Chapter 4: Character Creation


          One of the most important facets of D&D / BG is the ability to create the character you will "inhabit" for the course of the game. There are dozens of options available to you, which when combined allow for a spectrum of literally billions of possible characters. The Character Creation process itself can be deceptively simple: Choose what race you want to be, pick a class to play, select an alignment, roll a decent set of stats, put some proficiency points into a couple of weapons, maybe choose a couple of spells, done. Actually understanding the reasoning behind all of those choices, however, is a lot of work, and there is much data to be absorbed and weighed. I have arranged this page so that the various aspects are not in the order in which they appear during the actual Character Creation in-game, but rather in the order of greatest importance to your character as a whole.

          Your Class is essentially your profession, the set of skills that determine your role as an adventurer. Each class has its own relative strengths and relative weaknesses, as well as abilities unduplicated by any other class. There are four "super-classes": Warrior, Priest, Rogue, and Wizard, and each superclass has at least two "classes" descending from it. In BG2, almost every class has at least three "kits" descending from it.
          Click Here to jump to the page where I start delving into the class structure.

          Dual-classing and Multiclassing are ways to combine two (or three) very different classes, or even one class and a kit of another class, in the same character. Both methods increase your end versatility at arguably little cost, so in general Dual-classes and Multi-classes are a bit more popular than trueclass characters.
Class structure — Superclasses (moves to new page) Class Combinations (moves to new page) Races (moves to new page) Rolling your Stats (stays on this page) Weapon Proficiencies (stays on this page) Alignment (stays on this page)           Click Here to learn about class combinations.

          Your Race is the species from which you are descended. Although this decision has little influence on actual gameplay, it has great importance in determining what classes (especially class combinations) you can take.
          Click Here to read about the various races.

          Your Stats are measurements of your (character's) personal abilities; things like physical strength, ruggedness, brainpower and charm. Different stats are important for different classes, and each class and race will influence your stats somewhat: Minimum values, and a few bonuses & penalties here and there. But by far the most important factor in determining your stats is the roll of the dice; getting good stats is easily the most time-consuming part of Character Creation, which is why going through the process is most frequently described as "rolling" up a new character.
          Click Here to jump down the page to where I talk about your 6 stats and what they do.

          Weapon Proficiencies are indicators of your levels of skill with various types of weapons, and BG2 introduces Weapon Styles as well. Most of your proficiency points will be allocated during the course of the game, but you have enough at the start to get you going. Your character is affected a good deal by what weapons they use: A Warrior who uses a Flail and Darts from behind his Large Shield is very different from another Warrior (even one with the exact same race, stats, and kit) who uses a Crossbow and Spear, who in turn is very different from one who Dual-Wields Short Swords.
          Click Here to jump down and read about the various Proficiencies.

          Your Alignment has hardly any influence on the game—even if you're Lawful Evil, you can still behave in a manner more consistent with Chaotic Good, and vice versa. It serves mostly as a reminder of how you should be playing than any sort of real restrictor on your actions. In BG2, though, there are a few items that have Alignment restrictions, so it does matter in that regard, and it has some small effects at the beginnings of both BG1 and 2, and also determines what Familiar you will get (if any).
          Click Here to jump down to the section on Alignment.

          Selecting your starting Spells is pretty trivial: If you're a Wizard, you pick what spells you know at the start of the game (people typically go with either the most-commonly-used ones, like Magic Missile and Identify, or the hard-to-find ones like Glitterdust and Spook), as well as which spells you have memorized on Day 1. If you're a Priest, choosing your memorized spell(s) is your only option. Picking your memorized spells only happens in BG1, because in BG2 you always start with no spells memorized at all. There is no section to read more about your starting spells, because I just said all there is to say about it.



Character Creation — Stats

          Every creature in the game has six basic, fundamental statistics that play a large part in determining that creature's capabilities and influencing its secondary statistics like hitpoints and THAC0. The stats are Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), Constitution (CON), Intelligence (INT), Wisdom (WIS), & Charisma (CHA). The "normal" range for each of these stats is 3 through 18, with the average score in each stat being 8 or 9; most commoners and townsfolk have average stats, while adventurers' stats are almost always considerably higher, for the simple reason that if their stats were only average, they wouldn't have become adventurers. Here's a description of the 6 stats and what they do:

Strength: Your Strength is, obviously, a measurement of sheer physical muscle. It affects your odds of hitting an enemy with a melee weapon, how much damage you can do with that melee weapon, your chances of forcing open a locked door or chest (in the event that you don't have a Thief), and in BG2, what weapons and armor you can use: If you want to wear Full Plate, you need at least 15 Strength. Your Strength also determines how much weight you can carry and still move at your normal walking rate; if you go even a single pound over your Weight Allowance, you become Encumbered: Slowed and lumber along at half speed. Exceed your Weight Allowance by more than 20% or so, and you're Encumbered: Can Not Move. Warriors can also get something called "Exceptional" Strength, which is a modifer that the AD&D people threw in because everybody was giving their Warriors 18 Strength. If you're a Warrior and your STR is 18, the game will also roll a D100 that determines your exceptional STR. 18(01) is the lowest, as it's only a tiny bit more powerful than a flat 18, and 18(00) is the best, it's almost 19. Most party members will not need a high Strength, but they should be at least average . . . this goes for every stat, actually.Art by Mike Sass

Art by Mike SassDexterity: Your agility, reflexes, eye-hand coordination, and manual sensitivity. This is arguably the most important stat: It influences your Armor Class, your aim with all ranged weapons, and (if you're a Thief, Ranger, Bard, or Monk) your Thieving skills as well. Of these, your AC is the most vital, as over the course of the game a lot of people are going to want to insert a lot of pointy objects into you, and it would be much to your benefit not to be there when it happens. Therefore: Dodge.

Constitution: This stat represents your toughness, endurance, gumption, and stamina. It controls a very important number: Your maximum hitpoint total. Actually, your CON score is only one factor in setting your total hitpoints; good die rolls are every bit as important, but with things as precious as hitpoints, every one counts. Only Warriors gain any additional hitpoints for a CON higher than 16. Constitution also plays a major role in determining the Saving Throws of a Dwarf, Halfling, or Gnome. One very interesting thing about Constitution is that extremely high
CON scores allow you to actually regenerate lost hitpoints; this starts at a CON of 20, in which case your wounds self-heal at the rate of 1 hitpoint per turn. It's not much, but it sure is nice when you can heal yourself just by sleeping, or walking from one map area to another. Despite what the manual says, your Constitution has no effect whatsoever on your odds of being successfully Resurrected.

Intelligence: This stat reflects your capacity to learn, remember, deduce and outwit. It is largely important only to Mages and Bards, as their odds of successfully scribing a Wizard scroll to their spellbooks depends wholly on their INT. (Note: Intelligence is only required to scribe the spell, not cast it. The manuals show an INT table that says you cannot cast high-level spells without a high Intelligence, e.g., you must have at least 16 INT in order to cast 8th-Level spells. This rule was not implemented in BG.) Also, when scribing spells, the game checks your INT and use it to determine how many spells (of each Spell Level) you can scribe to your Book. But apart from spell-scribing purposes, Intelligence is only good for Lore, and the ability to use certain items: People with less than 9 INT are treated as illiterate in PnP, and in BG this is implemented by making all scrolls, even the green Protection scrolls, unusable by anyone with under 9 INT, and the same goes for almost all Wands, as well. Some encounters in BG2 also roleplay your INT for you: Depending on the Intelligence of the party member doing the talking, the more clever or learned conversation options might not be open to you.Art by Mike Sass

Art by Mike SassWisdom: A representation of your common sense, levelheadedness, foresight, and intuition. These four qualities are actually hardly touched in the game; true, a high Wisdom does grant you the same Lore bonuses as having a high Intelligence, and some conversation options do check your WIS score as well, but the only thing that WIS is really good for is memorizing additional Priest spells. Apparently Wisdom is also a measure of one's devotion to the gods, because Clerics and Druids gain extra spellslots for having a high WIS. (Paladins and Rangers do not get these bonuses, and of course the Monk cannot cast spells at all.) In PnP, your Wisdom is used to determine a modifier on your Saving Throw against spells that affect the mind—Charm and Confusion effects and the like. Despite the fact that BioWare included a mention of this in the manual, this was not implemented in the final game. Also unimplemented was a Spell Failure chance, wherein Priest spells cast by a Priest with a low Wisdom score would have a random chance to spontaneously fail, without any external source of Spell Disruption. Regardless, for all classes other than Clerics & Druids, Wisdom plays hardly any role in a character's effectiveness.

Charisma: This is a measure of your character's willpower, personality, physical appearance, and leadership abilities. It is most commonly equated with good looks and sex appeal, but this is only a part of what Charisma represents (it's a big part, but still). In your interactions with the hundreds of NPCs in the game, their attitude toward you is controlled by two things: Your party's Reputation, and your Charisma. (Actually, some conversations check the Charisma of the party member who's actually talking to the NPC, while others check the Charisma of the Party Leader.) With a high Reputation and high Charisma, you tend to get offered more quests and recieve better rewards for completing them—conversely, in one game of mine I couldn't even talk to a recruitable NPC because my Reputation and personal magnetism weren't high enough to impress him. (Yet another example of how the game favors roleplaying Good.) A prime example of how Charisma affects various NPCs' Reaction scores to you is the prices in stores: Polite, pretty, persuasive people get discounts. Store prices are also greatly influenced by the party's Reputation, but the Charisma of the Party Leader tends to be even more important.Art by Mike Sass


STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Min
Max
Min
Max
Min
Max
Min
Max
Min
Max
Min
Max
Human
3
18
3
18
3
18
3
18
3
18
3
18
Dwarf
8
18
3
17
12
19
3
18
3
18
2
16
Elf
3
18
7
19
6
17
8
18
3
18
8
18
Gnome
6
18
3
18
8
18
7
19
2
17
3
18
Halfling
6
17
8
19
10
18
6
18
3
17
3
18
Half-Elf
3
18
6
18
6
18
4
18
3
18
3
18
Half-Orc
4
19
3
18
4
19
1
16
3
18
3
18
Fighter
9
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Paladin
12
-
1
-
9
-
1
-
13
-
17
-
Ranger
13
-
13
-
14
-
1
-
14
-
1
-
Monk
1
-
9
-
9
-
1
-
9
-
1
-
Cleric
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
9
-
1
-
Druid
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
12
-
15
-
Bard
1
-
12
-
1
-
13
-
1
-
15
-
Thief
1
-
9
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Mage
1
-
1
-
1
-
9
-
1
-
1
-
Sorcerer
1
-
1
-
1
-
9
-
1
-
9
-
          If you are curious enough about what the stats actually do that you want the actual, numerical values for them, visit the Stats Table. Otherwise, we now know enough about the stats to finally talk about rolling them. In PnP games, different Dungeon Masters have different rules for rolling stats; one common setup is that you roll 4D6, ignore the lowest die, and the remaining 3D6 is your roll, totalling anywhere from 3 to 18. Do that 6 times, and those 6 numbers are your stats—end of story. If you really did get some lousy numbers, the DM might let you roll a second time. In comparison, BioWare is the nicest DM in the world, because here's how it works in BG: The game rolls 6 sets of 3D6, and compares the results with three pre-set criteria.
          1) All 6 stats must be within the Minimum and Maximum
          parameters for the Race you selected.
          2) All 6 stats must be at least the minimum values for the Class you
          selected.
          3) The numerical sum of all 6 stats must be at least 75.
If any one of these criteria are not met, the game immediately rolls another 6 sets of 3D6, without even displaying the one that didn't make the cut. Once the game has found some valid numbers, it displays them, and then lets you move points from one stat to another. Many DMs allow this, but with restrictions on the number of points you can move, or with penalties for raising a stat above 15, or things like that. Not BioWare: In BG you can move stat points around to your heart's content. And as if that wasn't enough, you can roll a completely NEW set of 6 3D6 stats, simply by hitting Reroll, as many times as you want. BioWare also nerfs the game in your favor by allowing you to select your Class before rolling your stats. In PnP, you rolled your stats first, and they determined what class(es) you could be; if you didn't roll at least 12 WIS and 15 CHA, you couldn't be a Druid. This acted as a restrictor on being able to play powerful classes like the Ranger and Paladin. In BG, however, all you have to do is select a Ranger, and you're practically guaranteed to get good stats on every roll.

Q: "If I roll 3D6, that gives a point spread of 3 to 18. So how do I get a 19, for stats like a Half-Orc's Strength? Do I have to take a point out of some other stat, and move it into STR?"
          A: No.
A normal 3D6 dice roll is 3 through 18, yes, but do you see how a Half-Orc's Strength range is 4 through 19? That's just a regular 3D6 roll, with a +1 modifier tacked on. I've already included all the modifiers in the table above, so you don't have to worry about them.



Character Creation — Proficiencies

          Proficiencies can be assigned to various weapons and, in BG2, Weapon Styles as well. They represent the amount of time and effort you have spent in training with the selected weapon (style), or at least they're meant to: You can pour 5 proficiency points into Mace, even though you've never used any weapon but a Halberd, so that the first time you ever pick up a Mace, you're already a Grandmaster with it. Okay, so the system can be abused, there's nothing new about that. The Proficiency Tables for BG1 and BG2 are different, largely because BG1 takes place at such low levels that you have very few proficiency points to throw around, so BioWare chose to lump certain weapons together, giving players greater flexibility when it came to using weapons in which they were proficient. The tables for BG1 and BG2 are below:

BG1

Proficiency
Max.
Affects
Axe*****Axe, Throwing Axe
Blunt*****Club, Mace, Staff, Warhammer
Bow*****Short Bow, Longbow
Large Sword*****Longsword, Scimitar, Bastard Sword, Two-Handed Sword
Missile*****Darts, Sling, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow
Small Sword*****Dagger, Throwing Dagger, Short Sword
Spear*****Spear, Halberd
Spiked*****Flail, Morning Star

          As you can obviously see, BG2 offers a heck of a lot more choices when allocating proficiency points than BG1 does, and while in BG1, every proficiency gives you skill with at least two types of weapon, in BG2 almost all weapons have their own proficiency slot. The "Max." column indicates the maximum number of points that can be put into each proficiency. The 5th point in each of BG1's proficiencies is red because there's no way to actually achieve Grandmastery in BG1.
          When starting BG1, no class of character can put more than 2 points into any weapon proficiency, to reflect the idea that no piddling little Level 1 character could be considered a "Master" of anything. When you start BG2, however, you get to re-allocate all of your points (even if it's a character you carried over from BG1, you can put his points into entirely different proficiencies), and you can go straight to Grandmastery from the very beginning.           In the description of Single Weapon Style, your "offhand" is your left hand, a term used most often when Dual-Wielding (the more commonly-used name for Two Weapon Style) or using Single Weapon Style. Two-Handed Weapon Style only applies to melee weapons, it will not affect the use of your Longbow.
          As for what the proficiencies actually DO, well, that too differs between BG1 and BG2, as shown below. The tables indicate the various THAC0, Damage, Attacks per Round, and Speed Factor bonuses given by one's proficiency in the weapon(s) being used.
BG2

Proficiency
Max.
Affects
Axe*****Axe, Throwing Axe
Bastard Sword*****Bastard Sword
Club*****Club
Crossbow*****Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow
Dagger*****Dagger, Throwing Dagger
Dart*****Darts
Flail / Morningstar*****Flail, Morning Star
Halberd*****Halberd
Katana*****Katana
Long Bow*****Longbow
Long Sword*****Longsword
Mace*****Mace
Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato*****Scimitar, Wakizashi, Ninja-to
Short Bow*****Short Bow
Short Sword*****Short Sword
Sling*****Sling
Spear*****Spear
Staff*****Staff
Two-Handed Sword*****Two-Handed Sword
Warhammer*****Warhammer
Single Weapon Style**A 1-handed melee weapon with an empty offhand
Sword & Shield Style**A 1-handed melee weapon with a shield
Two-Handed Weapon**A 2-handed melee weapon
Two Weapon Style***A 1-handed melee weapon in each hand

BG1
BG2
THAC0
  Dam. 
  ApR 
  S.F.  
  Points  
Name
THAC0
  Dam. 
  ApR 
  S.F.  
0
0
0
0
*
Proficiency
0
0
0
0
-1
+2
+0.5
0
**
Specialization
-1
+2
+0.5
0
-3
+3
+0.5
0
***
Mastery
-2
+2
+0.5
0
-3
+4
+0.5
-1
****
High Mastery
-2
+3
+0.5
-1
-3
+5
+1.5
-3
*****
Grandmastery
-2
+4
+0.5
-3
          As the table shows, you recieve no positive modifiers when using a weapon in which you have 1 single proficiency
point. If you use a type of weapon in which you have no proficiency points, you actually incur penalties: You can only make 1 Attack per Round, and your THAC0 is penalized depending on your character class: Warriors take a +2 hit to their THAC0, Priests and Rogues have a +3 modifier, and Wizards suffer under a whopping +5 THAC0 penalty.Art by Mike Sass
          The effects of increasing proficiency in a weapon are the same in BG1 as they are in PnP, but they change dramatically in the transition to BG2 . . . most notably, the benefits of going beyond Specialization almost disappear. Many people were annoyed by this change, and created a "True Grandmastery Patch" mod that changed BG2's system back to the BG1 setup. It has been "decided," however, that with the more powerful weapons available in BG2, using BG1's numbers would result in Fighters becoming overpowered, especially in comparison to their non-Warrior companions. Part of the reason for this is that non-Warriors do not get the Attacks per Round increases for advanced weapon specialization; sure, Priests, Rogues, and even Wizards will enjoy the appropriate THAC0, Damage, and Speed Factor bonuses from whatever level of proficiency they're able to achieve with their weapon(s), but the only way to have your Proficiency Points grant you extra ApR is to have at least one level of Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger under your belt. This is hardcoded.

          The Weapon Styles do not use the same point-progression that the actual weapon proficiencies do; rather, each Weapon Style has its own setup, as follows:
Points
Sword & Shield Style
Single Weapon Style
Two-Handed Weapon Style
Two-Weapon Style
*
Grants -2 bonus to AC vs. Missiles-1 bonus to AC, rolls a Critical Hit on 19 or 20+1 bonus to Damage, -2 bonus to Speed FactorReduces THAC0 penalties to +2 in the on-hand and +6 in the offhand
**
AC vs. Missiles now -4AC bonus now -2, rolls a Crit on 19 or 20Damage bonus still +1, Speed Factor now -4, rolls a Crit on 19 or 20On-hand THAC0 penalty negated, offhand penalty now +4
***
-
-
-
Reduces THAC0 penalties to +0 in the on-hand and +2 in the offhand

          Dual-wielding with no points invested in Two-Weapon Style gives THAC0 penalties of +4 in your on-hand (right) and +8 in your offhand (left). An explanation of Dual-Wielding: Carrying a second weapon in your offhand automatically gives you an additional Attack per Round, but you only swing your offhand weapon once per round. For instance, if you had an ApR of 3 while holding a Mace, and you picked up a Dagger in your offhand, your ApR would jump to 4, and every round your attacks would be Mace, Mace, Mace, Dagger. If you were Improved Hasted, your ApR would double, and you would now attack Mace, Mace, Mace, Dagger, Mace, Mace, Mace, Dagger, every round. Your overall Speed Factor is determined by the weapon in your on-hand, not your offhand; the number of proficiency points invested in your offhand is actually irrelevant, the game only uses your proficiency with your on-hand weapon when determining combat bonuses. (You should still have at least 1 proficiency point in your offhand weapon, though, even if just for the sake of realism.)



Character Creation — Alignment

          Your Alignment is a representation of your overall personality and outlook on life. It is determined by your (character's) standing on two axes: The Good-Evil axis and the Lawful-Chaotic axis. Each axis has 3 positions, and when combined, the axes delineate a set of nine alignments, as shown to the right. One's Alignment is pretty much the only "stat" that is almost entirely subjective and open to interpretation: It is not a box to put you in, but rather a tool to help you roleplay. Without an Alignment that's permanently attached to their character, people would always have their characters do what they themselves, the players, would do—meaning that if you played the game over & over, all of your characters would react the same way to every situation. Thus, having an Alignment improves the replayability of the game, by reminding you that "Oh yeah, I'm Lawful Neutral this time."
Lawful Good
Neutral Good
Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral
True Neutral
Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil
Neutral Evil
Chaotic Evil

          The Good-Evil axis is fairly self-explanatory: Good is the cause of altruism, putting others before yourself, and aiding those in need, while Evil is the cause of selfishness, total lack of compassion, and milking every situation for all you can get. Upon discovering an abandoned purse, with a wallet and keys inside, a Good person would feel obligated to wait for the owner to come back, and/or leave her a note telling her that they'd found her purse, and how to contact them. An Evil person would just say "Finders keepers" and quickly take at least the money in the wallet, if not more.
          The Law-Chaos axis is one's attitude towards, and willingness to obey, authority and the existing power structure. Law favors order, tradition, and upholding the status quo for its own sake, while Chaos views all boundaries as shackles on a person's true independence, and seeks to circumvent or disrupt social mores. Upon becoming aware of a moderately serious flaw in, say, their local system of government, a Lawful person would try to work within the system, getting it to recognize its own problem and amend itself accordingly . . . this solution would likely take quite some time, but in the end it's the most efficient. On the other hand, a Chaotic person who percieved the exact same problem in the system would likely try to attack, or even destroy, everything connected with the flaw . . . possibly doing more harm than good, but at least they can be sure that their actions have some effect.
          True Neutral is an interesting alignment, partly because there are many completely different reasons to be it. TN functions as the "Null" alignment for creatures too mindless to have an alignment of their own: Skeletons, Golems, and most types of animals are TN simply because they lack the capacity to understand the concepts of Good, Evil, Law or Chaos. The second main reason to be TN is through either the lack of a moral opinion, or the inability to act on that morality. Most poor commoners fall into this bracket, because they are so concerned with work and caring for their families that they don't have the time (or schooling) to take a
moral stand, and even if they did they'd still lack the resources to do anything about it. These people do what they do because they'd die if they didn't. The third main reason to be True Neutral is out of the desire to oppose extremes. Most people in this group are Druids, viewing all those who favor Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos as being, literally, unbalanced (which is not a problem as long as there's an oppositely-unbalanced equal to swing the scale right again). These people do not seek to eliminate things like Good and Evil, instead they see a positive need for both viewpoints to coexist, for out of strife comes growth. These people seek to preserve all opposing factions from extinction, and they will aid the weak not because they are being oppressed by the strong (as a Good person would do), but rather simply because they are weak, just as they will stand against the strong simply because they are strong.
          The alignments of LG, CG, LE and CE combine elements of both their parent alignments in a rather intuitive fashion—a Chaotic Good person will kill an Evil person, simply because they might perform an Evil action at some point in the future. Meanwhile, a Lawful Evil person will build a case of "evidence" against his enemies until the authorities give him a free hand (or even assistance) to execute those who got in his way. There are also more alignments than just the basic nine, but these are more vague and they don't even have names, just things like "Neutral Good with Lawful tendencies" and "Chaotic Neutral with Evil tendencies." But really, as long as you're roleplaying a character who is morally realistic, it's all good.





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