Part 1: Candlekeep

Welcome to the umpteenth attempt at a Let's Play on Baldur's Gate!

First, watch the English version of the intro (Thanks Stabbey the Clown)

Now to create our character.

Say hello to Hammer Floyd, the Half-Elf Conjurer. He may or may not look like another male human mage, but our bloke will be much better (at least in Baldur's Gate 1).



This is our alignment screen. The alignments were done so much better in pretty much every other D&D RPG. In Baldur's Gate: If you chose "Evil" and then run around being Mother Theresa, your alignment doesn't change. The problem with this game is that the evil choices all severely gimp your character and most of them are of the lame: "STFU I KILL YOU NOW" choice. The game is biased for you to be a goody two-shoes and in the interest of showing you as much as possible: We'll be a mini Jesus (but trying to be neutral as well)


Alright! Now we're getting somewhere. Since this is a no-mod playthrough, I have to re-roll to get the stats I want instead of punching in the stats myself. This wont take too long surely? I mean, all I want is three 18's and one 16. That cant be too hard to get in the D&D world can it?



OH FOR FUCKS SAKE



THANK CHRIST! Since I'm quite a sad individual: I actually timed how long it'd take before I got this result (including re-assigning points, I'm not that dense). It took me 53 minutes and 21 seconds. The things I do for you...

For the unlearned: My dexterity, constitution and intelligence is on maximum which gives me a +4 bonus. This means I'm hard to hit, my spells are hard to resist and I can memorise any spell in the game. Also, the constitution means I'll get a few more extra HP per level which is vital if a mage is to survive. My Strength\Wisdom are on average with no bonus' or penalties. Wisdom only applies to preists and since I'm a mage: I dont want to fight things up close, so I dont need a high strength stat.



Since I'm going to be far away and throwing magic missiles and lightning bolts at people: Missle Weapons (in this case: Slings) are probably best suited to my character for now. I'll be wandering around with a quaterstaff though, just so I can look more awesome.



So this is us. This is who we will be for the rest of the game. Shall we begin?


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Chapter 1





Welcome to Candlekeep



That's us in the red\yellow with the green circle beneath our feet. We're currently outside the Inn at Candlekeep. Let's go in and buy some stuff to get us started.



In the Inn, there's Winthrop (the fat bastard who's the barkeep) and Firebeard, the wizardy looking bloke near the fire. Let's talk to Winthrop first.



Winthrop tries to swindle us. However, we have 18 Intelligence! We wouldn't fall for that right? (Okay maybe once)
Note: This is a dialogue box. It shows what was said between me and the other characters. Expect to see a lot of these in this game. The stuff I say is always highlighted in blue



Firebeard sends me on an errand to fetch an Identify scroll. This is one of the many many many MANY fetch quests in the game, but most have some sort of twist at the end so they're not too terrible.

Note: This time: The dialogue box appears at the bottom. If I can fit it in, that's where most of the dialogue will be.



I buy some stuff off Winthrop and head outside and go north. Phlydia asked us to fetch a book of hers. How in the Nine Hells did she manage to become an academic here when she cant remember to return books when she lives in a glorified library?!



Oh well. Let's see if I can get a blessing from the Preists.


As soon as I entered, I was set upon by a would-be assassin, armed with a knife. I easily dispatched him with a Chromatic Orb. How did he get past the guards?



I thought I got away without a scratch, looks like he must've knicked me with his knife as he went down. No need to tell Prada of what happened though. I'd like to figure out what's going on first.



So Phlydia did leave her book here. What a surprise. However, Dreppin DID reveal some rather useful information. Hull was on the bottle last night. He's gonna need an antidote potion. Another perilous task.



On my way to yell at Hull for letting a bloody assasin into Candlekeep, Reevor catches me and reminds me that I have some rats to kill. I fear this may be my most epic battle to date. This may be my last entry dear journal.



Alternatively: I could bludgeon the filthy creatures with my stick. Stick: 6, Teeth: 0. He gives me 5 gold for my troubles. That's less than 1 gold per rat. How cheap can you get? As a dwarf: I suppose he's got an excuse for being afraid of rats. After all: He IS a lot closer to them...



I was right. Hull needs an antidote. I wish we had a generic "antidote" to any illness. This shouldn't be too hard to find.


But I'm sick of this rain. He can wait a bit. Hopefully the warden will spot him without a sword before I get back to him.



It seems somebody else had the same idea. However, this person also thought it'd be a good idea to try to kill me like the other bloke.



Magic Missile is a wonderful spell. This is two assassination attempts on me within as many hours. I'm gonna tell the Seargent. Something is seriously wrong here.



Of all the people to run into while I'm trying to do something it's Karan. Why do language scholars always talk the longest? I didn't tell him what happened in the bunkhouse. One of the first rules I learnt of Candlekeep: What happens in the bunkhouse...STAYS in the bunkhouse



Fuller is hungover as well. Not to mention that talking to him is like talking to a brick wall. If I wanted something done about these attacks, I'll be stuck here for days arguing.




I still fetched the bolts for him. I got a pretty nifty dagger out of it too. Here: Have a look



+1 is D&D talk for better. It means I do 1 extra HP of damage, and get a small bonus to my To-Hit percentage. Bear in mind that I have a maximum of about 6 HP so 1 extra HP of damage is actually pretty decent. I could do a maximum of 5 Damage with this dagger, so 2 stabs with this dagger would kill me.



I did eventually run into Tethtoril though and got the scroll that Firebeard wants. With that, let's finish being Mr. Fedex and return all the crap.



Well any reward is better than nothing. Still, it would've been useful if he cast that on me BEFORE the assassination attempts.



Phlydia shouts me a gem for returning her book that I can sell to Winthrop for some gold. Wont be much, but then again: Finding her books is never hard.



Dreppin gives me some advice. Advice from a manure shoveller is BOUND to be good advice...right?



Hull shouted me some cash. I considered insulting the drunkard, but why yell at the lackey when the superior is just as bad?

Well, I'm done here. Time to go ask Gorion where we're going. I suppose there's only so much book-fetching and rat-killing you can do before you go insane.



Naturally, My old friend Imoen had to interrupt me. She's a nice girl, but she can be infuriating at times.



And Gorion tells me nothing. How typical of him. Still, he's never been wrong before and he wouldn't drag me away unless it was important. Time to set off on my first adventure.

Note: In this dialogue box, the highlighted text is my response. It wouldn't fit in the window otherwise. This'll happen a fair bit



Gorion: Listen carefully. If we ever are to become seperated, it is imperative you make your way to the Friendly Arm Inn. There you will meet Khalid and Jheira. They have long been my friends and you can trust them.



We have been walking for 8 hours straight. My feet are killing me. What's the rush anyway?

Gorion:Hurry child. The night can only get worse and we must find shelter soon...

...Wait, we are not alone. We're in an ambush.




I get hit by a flame arrow. I run off into the woods and look back to see Gorion throwing absolutely everything he has at this armoured fiend.



The fiend is too much for even the powerful Gorion. I see him struck down. I run for dear life and get the hell out of there.

Now I'm in a wonderful spot.

I'm lost in the woods.
Gorion is dead.
I'm homeless.
I dont know anybody.

And I have some very nasty questions.

#1) Where am I?
#2) Where do I go now?
#3) Who can help me?
#4) What the HELL was that giant bastard and why does he want to kill me?

Perhaps more logically:

#5) Why didn't that armoured dude chase me? Hell it's not like I went very far.