What's the best PC D&D game ever?

[Harry Seldon]

I need something with endless level ups and character building. I don't like games that run like Dungeon Siege where once you've killed everything in an area, you have to move on. I'm a very patient man and like crushing everything in my path. Something like Order of the Griffin for the TG16 or a Final Fantasy. Which of these games are most like this?

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Harry Seldon
I need something with endless level ups and character building. I don't like games that run like Dungeon Siege where once you've killed everything in an area, you have to move on. I'm a very patient man and like crushing everything in my path. Something like Order of the Griffin for the TG16 or a Final Fantasy. Which of these games are most like this?

I would say the original pools of radiance and all of the other "gold box" games.

EDIT: Er, nevermind. you said "endless level ups" No D&D game would suite you, then. D&D isn't designed for that kind of play, and even the hack-n-slash games progress more slowly, and are more tightly tied with the story then, say, Final Fantasy.

The original "gold box" games did have alot Final Fantasy-esque random encounters, though.

[Harry Seldon]

Well, maybe not endless levels. But at least enough to keep it interesting. OotG stopped at level eight but by the time you got there you were pretty kick@ss. I enjoy the combat. For me, that was the hardest thing to recreate in pen and paper play because it took so long to get through a single battle.

[Marid Audran]

Harry Sheldon -- Any of the IE (Infinity Engine) games should suit you then. The main difference betwixt they and RPGs like Final Fantasy or Might and Magic is that leveling up is a big deal, so the gradually rate shouldn't deter you.

Baldur's Gate (with Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack): From lvl 1-9 approximate, give or take a level depending on character class.

Baldur's Gate II: From lvl 7-18 or thereabouts. The expansion pack (Throne of Bhaal) takes you beyond that ceiling; how far, I don't know. But to give you some perspective:

Level 1-4 character: Novice adventurer, just learning the ropes and taking odd jobs. Mortality rate high.

Level 5-8: Seasoned adventurer, knows the game. Something of an "average" rank in the majority of adventuring parties.

Level 9-14: High-level, professional adventurers; very successful dungeon-crawlers, mercenaries, would-be heroes and rabble-rousers alike.

Level 15+: Is something of the living legend rank; besides being very powerful you've often made a name for yourself in your campaigns. If they've survived this far, often near retirement.

The game pretty much stops being fun by level 20 due to the fact that your party has become so powerful little can challenge you without resorting to ridiculous contrivances ( Your party awakes stripped of their possessions in a collosieum and must battle with a horde of Mad Killer Ettins to survive!!! ) or throwing demi-gods and demon-kin your way. The novelty has long worn off; the magical and fantastical have been rendered mundane, and your party has "been everywhere, done every that."

If you're primary focus is building your own custom-tailored party Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale II may be more your speed; both games take your party from level 1 into the upper stratosphere of class levels. Baldur's Gate I/II has you create one character and then take on joinable NPCs with fleshed out personalities and individual quests.

Lastly, Planescape Torment is more of an interactive novel than a classic CRPG. You take the role of a particular character, the Nameless One, trying to recover the clues to your lost identity. The people who join you are limited in number and often the party ranks become rigid rather than mercurial as in classic adventuring parties.

The upside is that the joinable NPCs are extremely well-crafted and diverse characters, a real treat to discover. You have a hand in your class progression but most of the character development happens in-game with dialogue choices and differing paths towards completion of a certain quest. Whereas some paths close others will open; it's impossible to "do everything" the first time 'round (which adds to replay value). Your player's alignment is a reflection of your actions in-game, instead of the static, pre-determined stat of your personal "ethos," which many people complained was more or less useless. Planescape Torment is a wonderful, fulfilling role-playing game in the purest sense of the term, but the lack of complete character and party customization may turn off some gamers.

There are five IE games out there and each one packs a lot of hours of entertainment, it really depends on your taste!

[Nubclear]

BG2.

Which allows you to become level 40.

[Imran Siddiqui]

This is easy: Baldur's Gate 2. Great, great, great Game!

Planescape: Torment is in 2nd.

[Main_Brain]

Spelljammer.
But then that was AD&D, also FR.

[Jamski]

UMMMMM, PLANESCAPE:TORMENT ANYONE?!?!?!?!?!?

How could I be so stupid as to forget that

Yes, Tass, level 40 is very cool, but not as cool as level 20/level 20 multiclass :P

PoR2 was odd in that you could only get to level 15 in any one class but there was no limit to how many levels you could get in total. The result was that all your characters ended up multiclassed. (of course the problem is that the XP tables are nerfed for the first half of the game to be 10% of the proper values - there's a fix that corrects this, but it makes the game insane)

-Jam

[Stuie]

I actually enjoyed Stone Prophet.

[Traianvs]

of the games listed here I have only played the BG and ID series so I can only judge between these two, and BG2 would be about the best rpg imo

[Nostromo]

Planescape: torment! If you are sick and tired of elves, gnomes, trolls or orcs, you should try this game.

[Standup]

I think BG2 is the better game but i much prefer being lower level. In BG1 just going from lvl 1 to lvl 2 was such a big deal - something that's lost when you go from, say, 15 to 16.
Nothing like having to think about how to tackle that single ogre compared to "oh another half dozen trolls..."

No 'eye of the beholder' ? Wasn't that great but i think it was the first D&D game i played and it seemed fun at the time.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Standup
I think BG2 is the better game but i much prefer being lower level. In BG1 just going from lvl 1 to lvl 2 was such a big deal - something that's lost when you go from, say, 15 to 16.
Nothing like having to think about how to tackle that single ogre compared to "oh another half dozen trolls..."

No 'eye of the beholder' ? Wasn't that great but i think it was the first D&D game i played and it seemed fun at the time.

I always found it pretty noobish that usually my party was in the majority when fighting monsters or other people and still lost a few members here and there

c'mon imagine 6 people fighting an ogre and still losing! Nah basically it was easy, just equipe everyone with ranged weapons, and keep 1 warrior as bait so the ogre keeps chasing the warrior whilst getting whacked from all sides by my other party members... that's not a challenge tbh

now a well balanced enemy troop of wizards and warriors and a thief here and there is a bit more challenging, also because there are more possibilities and skills... there's always a weak spot somewhere..

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Trajanus

c'mon imagine 6 people fighting an ogre and still losing!

I have a hard time imaginging the protagnist from BG1 or Imoen facing an ogre shortly after leaving their sheltered life in Candle Keep and not dying.

[Traianvs]

hey they're bhaalspawn, why don't they turn into the slayer or something