Baldurs gate - how should I start.

[Dis]

Beregost area NPC's that join your party that I can think of:

Spoiler:

Branwen (cleric) in the carnival area to the east. You need to free her from her stone form- somehow... Minsc is in a town south of Beregost I believe- he's a Ranger- but good with a 2 handed sword. Edwin is in the same town as Minsc. He's a very powerful evil mage who will conflict with Minsc/Dyanaheir. There is a Ranger who is a great archer to the west- near that wizards tower thingy place. I can't remember when the next thief comes around.

[Jamski]

Spoiler:

Don't forget the crappy bard in the town of Beregost itself, Garrick. He's nearly a thief. Minsc( very strong ranger) is in Nashkell, as is Edwin (Wizard with extra spells). Kiran (the l33t archer + strong ranger) is in the forest to the west of the main north south route. Minsc will lead you to Dynahier (good mage) , and Xan (Enchanter w/moonblade) you will come across for sure. Branwen (Cleric of Tempus) is to the east of Nashkell in the fair, as a statue

That's enough party for the early game, if you include Jaheria and Khalid too. How could you lose Imoen

-Jam

[Jamski]

Oh, I forgot to mention that you should take Boo if you meet him too. He's the best character to have in the final stages of the game.

Trust me, even though it sounds mad, just trust me.

Spoiler:

Boo may attack Savarok on his own, and he RULES

-Jam

[Snotty]

Originally posted by Jamski
Loot everyone's private residences too.
-Jam

The roleplaying side of things can be a lot of fun, and I couldnt justify my goodly party lotting innocents houses

[Dis]

I could, but I only did the ones that were empty.

Hey if they aren't smart enough to have a dog or someone guard it, that's their loss.

[Jamski]

How about if they have giant spiders guarding it

-Jam

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Diss and jamski both left out:

Spoiler:

Kagain, the evil dwarf fighter in Beregost, who is easily the game's best tank

And yes, you should do side quests. Around Beregost, there are several. I won't tell you what they are, but I will say that, at a minimum, you should talk to everyone you can in or around the towns inns and taverns.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dissident
I could, but I only did the ones that were empty.

Hey if they aren't smart enough to have a dog or someone guard it, that's their loss.

Yeah, thats basically what ive been doing.

How will that impact my party's rep? Where do I check my party's rep?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Diss and jamski both left out:

Spoiler:

Kagain, the evil dwarf fighter in Beregost, who is easily the game's best tank

He'd be the only one in Beregost then, as opposed to the area?

BTW, Ive started over, I my first dwarf fighter Thorin died.

Now Im Thrain, also a dwarf fighter. This time I gave myself a specialty, (Axes). Ive also made sure to get leather armor and a helmet.

Ive just left Beregost with a party of 6 - me, Imoen, the two bad guys i picked up on the road from candlekeep, and the two half-elves.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


He'd be the only one in Beregost then, as opposed to the area?

Not exactly.

Spoiler:

Garrick is also in Beregost itself. You can get him only if you complete his quest the right way. It's worth doing the quest the right way for other reasons -- a nifty weapon -- but Garrick himself is pretty lame; he'd be a good place-filler if you want to dump the evil guys asap, but he's not a keeper unless you really hate paying to identify stuff.

By the way, you can check your reputation by checing the character info on any party member; it's there with all they're other stats, and everyone in teh party has the same rep.

[Snotty]

Youre in for a lot of pain if you restart every time your main character dies. As much as saving and reloading pains me, this is the kind of game where it can become essential.

Iirc, when your rep changes it appears in the dialogue box. I think it will only effect your rep if you get caught doing it and have to fight guards or whatnot.

Out of interest, what alignment have you gone for? Are you planning on roleplaying your alignment, or are you going to take the options that offer the greatest reward?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Snotty
Youre in for a lot of pain if you restart every time your main character dies. As much as saving and reloading pains me, this is the kind of game where it can become essential.

Iirc, when your rep changes it appears in the dialogue box. I think it will only effect your rep if you get caught doing it and have to fight guards or whatnot.

Out of interest, what alignment have you gone for? Are you planning on roleplaying your alignment, or are you going to take the options that offer the greatest reward?

Im neutral good. And yeah, im thinking id like to role play good, though im not above stealling something now and then.

Starting over - well in my first start I made some newbie errors, so I was happy to restart anyway. I could see where that could become a problem though.

[Jamski]

You can check rep on the character roster screen, with all the hit rolls etc.

Its better to play good. You get stuff up to 50% cheaper in the shops

-Jam

[Marid Audran]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

Im neutral good. And yeah, im thinking id like to role play good, though im not above stealling something now and then.

God help us all.

I actually think for these type of games (The Infinity Engine ones, BG/IWD) most people "role-play" in a neutral evil fashion whether consciously or unconsciously. Loot, pillage, and pawn is the motto of the adventurer. It's a greedy, self-interested enterprise. It's not proper work by any means, though adventurers do some accidental good now and then; a footnote or two among accruing thousands of gold and dozens of rare magic items from various locales, often without sanction, permission, or blessing from a proper authority.

This is the real reason alignment is a superfluous stat in IE games; because moral consequence isn't really enforcable by a DM (in the case the computer) except in the crudest of scenerios (killing innocents or donating to a church, thus arbitrarily raising/lowering your "reputation" on a 1-20 scale). What's really annoying are NPCs leaving your party because of this, since they can't see the forest from the trees. Or are simply whimsy bastards.

[Jon Miller]

I never steal

I do loot the enemy dead

and really do roleplay

Jon Miller