Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Games

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TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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So I am thinking I want to do this for the party:
  • Wild Magic Barbarian (my PC)
Respec companions to the following. For maximum shenanigans.
  • Wild Magic Sorcerer
  • Lore/Valor Bard (it seems Sword Bard uses Bardic inspirations on their own attacks and cannot use them on others if I understand it right?)
  • Spore Druid
 
Tuco

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TJT said:
So I am thinking I want to do this for the party:
  • Wild Magic Barbarian (my PC)
Respec companions to the following. For maximum shenanigans.
  • Wild Magic Sorcerer
  • Lore/Valor Bard (it seems Sword Bard uses Bardic inspirations on their own attacks and cannot use them on others if I understand it right?)
  • Spore Druid
Click to expand...
lol this is exactly my plan. All the info I've gathered is pretty much from reading this thread though. I'm also going to try out a bunch of different classes depending on how easy it is to respec.
 
yerm

yerm

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I am making a paladin and respeccing all my companions to the same. Deus vult.
 
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TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Tuco said:
lol this is exactly my plan. All the info I've gathered is pretty much from reading this thread though. I'm also going to try out a bunch of different classes depending on how easy it is to respec.
Click to expand...
PC is going to be a Duergar too because they've always seemed cool.

Storm sorcerer is appealing if it works well. Take it with a grain of salt but Aerothurge build in dos2 was probably one of the most fun builds ever.
 
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Kharzette

Kharzette

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Araysar said:
I played BG1 like 15 years ago and Planescape Torment. I didn't get far, quit both after 20 hours in each game.

I didn't like either and don't understand what the big deal was about these games

Can someone explain?
Click to expand...
BG1 was some of the earliest realtime with pause combat, and I think that is what it is remembered for.

Planescape was the very very best writer in the industry backed up by probably the second best with a huge pile of amazing source material to pick from.

Big mysteries, awesome locations, great companions, really good voice actors. Lots of replay value as well, as the story changed quite a bit depending on your choices and stats.

Cancel culture robbed us of Avellone for a few years there, but he cleared his name (whole thing was fake), so I hope we'll see more from him soon.
 
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OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Kharzette said:
BG1 was some of the earliest realtime with pause combat, and I think that is what it is remembered for.

Planescape was the very very best writer in the industry backed up by probably the second best with a huge pile of amazing source material to pick from.

Big mysteries, awesome locations, great companions, really good voice actors. Lots of replay value as well, as the story changed quite a bit depending on your choices and stats.

Cancel culture robbed us of Avellone for a few years there, but he cleared his name (whole thing was fake), so I hope we'll see more from him soon.
Click to expand...


All of this is correct. Araysar Araysar , Planescape: Torment is great because it is a Whodunit mystery mixed with Memento all wrapped around the DND planar locations which are all crazy. It is mostly done through dialogue options so you have to treat it like a Telltale game except very limited voice acting. At one point you are reading a book and realize that there is a piece of a person in it that is fleeing through the written pages of the book and you have to make intelligence/wisdom checks to "catch" them. It is wild and still the best story told in any video game I've ever played.
 
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Burns

Burns

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TJT said:
So I am thinking I want to do this for the party:
  • Wild Magic Barbarian (my PC)
Respec companions to the following. For maximum shenanigans.
  • Wild Magic Sorcerer
  • Lore/Valor Bard (it seems Sword Bard uses Bardic inspirations on their own attacks and cannot use them on others if I understand it right?)
  • Spore Druid
Click to expand...
I was thinking about a wild magic Sorc PC, but without being able to read through the negative side of the wild surge table, I don't think I want to babysit it for a first playthrough. Having half your gold disappear was fucking dumb in BG2.

I also don't know how conversations work, if I run up to an NPC with Gale (as a follower), is it going to use his skills and class flag (Wizard) checks for the conversation or use the PC's skills? They have stated that if you respec an Origin and/or any follower, that the game will still treat them as the original class. So if I play Gale, then resepc him from a wizard to a bard, do I get a super face jive talking wizard in conversations?

Party I am currently leaning toward is:
  • Bard - Lore (PC) (maybe Gale)
  • Paladin - Vengence (Lae'zel) (warriors were too simple in Solasta)
  • Druid - Moon (Halsin replaced by Minsc)
  • Sorc, Wiz, or Warlock (Wyll or Gale if not PC)
 
Tuco

Tuco

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TJT said:
PC is going to be a Duergar too because they've always seemed cool.

Storm sorcerer is appealing if it works well. Take it with a grain of salt but Aerothurge build in dos2 was probably one of the most fun builds ever.
Click to expand...
I'm struggling to chose anything but a human main because i know I'm going to spend the 270 hours or whatever of cutscenes looking at my characters stupid face and if i chose something cool like dragonface or githyankee I'll get tired of it super fast. I don't really like the character art in bg3, characters look kinda silly and soft. Maybe I'll find some char presets that i like. I don't think I'll even look at the racial bonuses, just go by pure style.
 
TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Tuco said:
lol this is exactly my plan. All the info I've gathered is pretty much from reading this thread though. I'm also going to try out a bunch of different classes depending on how easy it is to respec.
Click to expand...
Also it says respect is just a gold cost after a certain point. Modding this to be free seems reasonable to me.
 
TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Burns said:
I was thinking about a wild magic Sorc PC, but without being able to read through the negative side of the wild surge table, I don't think I want to babysit it for a first playthrough. Having half your gold disappear was fucking dumb in BG2.

I also don't know how conversations work, if I run up to an NPC with Gale (as a follower), is it going to use his skills and class flag (Wizard) checks for the conversation or use the PC's skills? They have stated that if you respec an Origin and/or any follower, that the game will still treat them as the original class. So if I play Gale, then resepc him from a wizard to a bard, do I get a super face jive talking wizard in conversations?

Party I am currently leaning toward is:
  • Bard - Lore (PC) (maybe Gale)
  • Paladin - Vengence (Lae'zel) (warriors were too simple in Solasta)
  • Druid - Moon (Halsin replaced by Minsc)
  • Sorc, Wiz, or Warlock (Wyll or Gale if not PC)
Click to expand...
I'm also running Dark Urge and I like wacky builds. I'll have a PC thief type main on my second run.

From what I read the conversations are random between your party members. I could be wrong but it would make sense that they don't want you to just gimp all conversations by using your stat monkey with maxed persuasion skills on every single dialogue so it just goes exactly the way you want every time.
 
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Tuco

Tuco

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TJT said:
I'm also running Dark Urge and I like wacky builds. I'll have a PC thief type main on my second run.
Click to expand...
I thought about doing dark urge but from reading a little bit about it, it sounds like it's going to be "Dark Urge: OK now murder this quest giver that's obviously starting a mega quest, and in return you'll get this weird sidequest maybe."
 
TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Well who knows. All I really got from that is that its worth it to do a dark urge run and one without it.
 
Urlithani

Urlithani

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Araxen said:
This video makes Bards look like they are gods. They are so versatile on what they can do.

Click to expand...

5e changes to immunities really jacked up their power level too because their spell selection has a lot of mind-affecting and enchantment spells. In most previous versions (Pathfinder 1e and before), a lot of monsters were immune to mind-affecting spells (undead, vermin, oozes, constructs, a lot of outsiders, etc.) Which made sense. This used to be part of the base creature type.

So imagine my shock in my first 5E game (which I'm running), the bard starts throwing out Hideous Laughter and stuff on shadows and oozes and stuff. Not a big deal since I've been running games for over 30 years (which only one player is over 30, so I can handle it no problem).

The old grognard in me thinks it's still total bullshit, but if you're a bard your CC options opened up considerably.
 
Araysar

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TJT said:
You gotta enjoy it for what it is. They are traditional tabletop campaigns turned into a video game. The fun is class building, finding items, playing through a compelling story and exploring the world. Planescape shines because its probably the best overall story in a game to date. Certain party members have very fascinating quests as well in addition to being in a really unique world. BG2 is just immense. Stumble into a room and go on a sidequest that has you in another plane fighting monsters when all you were doing was looking to sell some items.

While they are linear stories yes there are many ways to just go off and do your own thing.
Click to expand...

Kharzette said:
BG1 was some of the earliest realtime with pause combat, and I think that is what it is remembered for.

Planescape was the very very best writer in the industry backed up by probably the second best with a huge pile of amazing source material to pick from.

Big mysteries, awesome locations, great companions, really good voice actors. Lots of replay value as well, as the story changed quite a bit depending on your choices and stats.

Cancel culture robbed us of Avellone for a few years there, but he cleared his name (whole thing was fake), so I hope we'll see more from him soon.
Click to expand...

OU Ariakas said:
All of this is correct. Araysar Araysar , Planescape: Torment is great because it is a Whodunit mystery mixed with Memento all wrapped around the DND planar locations which are all crazy. It is mostly done through dialogue options so you have to treat it like a Telltale game except very limited voice acting. At one point you are reading a book and realize that there is a piece of a person in it that is fleeing through the written pages of the book and you have to make intelligence/wisdom checks to "catch" them. It is wild and still the best story told in any video game I've ever played.
Click to expand...


All of this hits for me.

I never played tabletop RPGs, so I dont have that context to appreciate BG. Vast majority of RPGs I played were on console (SNES and Genesis, some PS). The only older PC RPGs I played were EQ, and a little bit of Betrayal at Krondor and Elder Scrolls. The real time + pause combat is something that was also unfamiliar to me back then and I disliked it, I was so used to turn based RPGs or the hack+slash shit like Secret of Mana/Zelda. I remember that RT+Pause mechanic being frustrating for me. And I could never appreciate the story telling aspect of it because I never got in far enough to know more of the story. All I remember is some thing being tattooed into PS:T dudes back and I have zero recollection of BG plot.

I might dig up my old BG CDs and give it another go.
 
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OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Araysar said:
All of this hits for me.

I never played tabletop RPGs, so I dont have that context to appreciate BG. Vast majority of RPGs I played were on console (SNES and Genesis, some PS). The only older PC RPGs I played were EQ, and a little bit of Betrayal at Krondor and Elder Scrolls. The real time + pause combat is something that was also unfamiliar to me back then and I disliked it, I was so used to turn based RPGs or the hack+slash shit like Secret of Mana/Zelda. I remember that RT+Pause mechanic being frustrating for me. And I could never appreciate the story telling aspect of it because I never got in far enough to know more of the story. All I remember is some thing being tattooed into PS:T dudes back and I have zero recollection of BG plot.

I might dig up my old BG CDs and give it another go.
Click to expand...

The PS: T story is really more of my wheelhouse and I find the BG1&2 stories to be good but mainly generic D&D type fantasy stuff. The thing that really got me interested in BG3 is that the Illithid's are involved so I am expecting mind-bending and Cthulu-esque shit all through it. If it is not those things than I will be highly disappointed in the story no matter what. I don't care if I am setting myself up for disappointment; they are called fucking MIND FLAYERS.

Edit: Also, my guy, it is SIX BUCKS and I just bought it again.
 
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TJT

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Araysar said:
All of this hits for me.

I never played tabletop RPGs, so I dont have that context to appreciate BG. Vast majority of RPGs I played were on console (SNES and Genesis, some PS). The only older PC RPGs I played were EQ, and a little bit of Betrayal at Krondor and Elder Scrolls. The real time + pause combat is something that was also unfamiliar to me back then and I disliked it, I was so used to turn based RPGs or the hack+slash shit like Secret of Mana/Zelda. I remember that RT+Pause mechanic being frustrating for me. And I could never appreciate the story telling aspect of it because I never got in far enough to know more of the story. All I remember is some thing being tattooed into PS:T dudes back and I have zero recollection of BG plot.

I might dig up my old BG CDs and give it another go.
Click to expand...
Just get it on gog.com.
 
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D

Droigan

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TJT said:
Well who knows. All I really got from that is that its worth it to do a dark urge run and one without it.
Click to expand...

Sven from Larian recommends doing Dark Urge as a secondary playthrough. It works better when you know what should happen, then suddenly everything changes with the dark urge. Creates "oh shit" moments as he described it, which won't be as impactful if you've never seen them before. Like the example they showed in the live panel
Gale is starting to exit the portal. He is an initial party member. Dark Urge playthough, you rip off his hand most likely killing him and don't even see who it was.

The "oh shit" moment there really only applies to you knowing who you hurt. A blind first playthough and that would just be a "oh well, lets move on".

The dark urge is really interesting, but not going to touch it for a first playthough. Sven hasn't commented on the story of the dark urge, but it is speculated that it could be more directly tied to BG1-2. As in dark urge = child of Bhaal. Bhaal is part of the Dead Three which I think Larian has confirmed to be in BG3.
 
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Arden

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I'm old, so I played BG 1 and 2 when they first dropped and loved them. Was playing 2nd Ed Dnd at the same time so all the system stuff made perfect sense at the time.

I'll be honest, I tried to go back and replay them and absolutely could not deal with the system mechanics. As amazing as my memories of those games are, I typically don't recommend younger/newer players going back to those earlier games because the system mechanics frankly suck.

Would love to see a BG/BG2/Planescape redo with updated art and the 5e rule set.
 
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