I wouldn’t dream of playing a bard who couldn’t pick pockets. That’d eliminate 90% of my play time. And at 1st level, Imoen is sucking hard. She can open maybe a quarter of these chests.
In no previous playthrough did I have anything to do with Xzar or Montoron. But in BG 2 you run into a bunch of people you never adventured with who act as if they know you. So, I picked up these two this time. I was torn between letting the Harpers kill them or letting them get killed defending me. Do any of these appearances in the second game depend on what actually happened in the first?
The thing about bards and PP, at least in the context of Baldur’s Gate, is that no matter which kit you pick you’ll reach 100% eventually over the course of the games. In fact, I think even Skalds with their 1/4th skill will reach 100% before hitting the level cap of ToSC if they start with high Dex (but don’t quote me on this). OTOH, Blades and Skalds also get abilities that are way above and beyond what a straight Bard gets. So picking a kitless means essentially gimping one’s long-term self for very little short-term gain (there’s not much worth pick-pocketing before your reach Act 5 in BG1. There’s Algernon’s cloak and… that’s about it, isn’t it ? Maybe Prism’s emerald after you’ve turned it in as well ? Oh, and Ragefast might also have some neat stuff, but I wouldn’t ever risk pissing the guy off. Much too useful a merchant, that man :))
And of course, you can always save scum your pick-pocketing attempts if you’re that kind of guy, but that’s no fun. Or pick up a temporary Bard NPC while you’re in town, root through everyone’s pockets, then dump the sorry sod. I’m talking about you, Garrick, you useless berk.
Nope, not that I know of. Besides, death in the Realms is less than permanent
Yeah, I kind of figured I’d ret-conn a “left for dead” explanation now that I’ve already let Xzar (whom I now realize was voiced by the same guy who did Peepers in Sam & Max) and Montoron get killed. And I was able to dismiss Garick without him getting pissy about it, so I didn’t have to avoid any hard feelings by having him step on a lightning trap.
Your point about the bard kits is well taken. I think what happened previously was that there were no kits for the original game, and then in BG2 I was able to start as a Blade without sacrificing my already maxed-out pickpocketing. And yes, of course I reload if I fail a pickpocket roll. Otherwise I’d have to kill everybody in the Friendly Arms. Sheesh. Also, reloads are pretty much instant in this version. It’s as addictive as video poker.
Awesomeness that I missed - Mark Meer (aka DudeShep from Mass Effect, among many many other roles) voices Rasaad. On that note, as I didn’t get far last night - where is that character found?
On the edition question, I’ll just note that both playstyles are found in both games, and some of the “differences” that everyone knows are there, aren’t actually in the rules. I’m not exactly sure why popular playstyles have drifted such that “everyone knows” those things, though…
