Themed parties

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Inspired by the topic in the IWD2 forum, I decided to gather some ideas for themed parties for BG2. Here's one of my own:

FFVIII
Squall - Paladin w/Carsomyr or other two-handed "gunblades"
Zell - Monk (maybe dual-wielding ranger)
Irvine - Bard for his charm, w/crossbow for shooting
Rinoa - Sorceress (duh)
Quistis - Fighter/Druid for nature (Blue) magic
Selphie - Thief (ninja-ish swashie or something)

 

Yay!! I have Inspired none other than the famed Felinoid!!
Umm.... lemme think...
FFIX (the greatest one EVER!)

Zidane-Rogue/fighter
Vivi-Sorcerer or Wizard
Garnet-Cleric/Conjurer
Steiner-Paladin

Quina-Some kind of mage?
Eiko-Conjurer/cleric
Amarant-Monk
Freya-figher w/spears

 

hehe, rather the infamous Felinoid ..
Good idea you guys got here, if I only knew anything about Final Fantasy (Your talkin' 'bout Final Fantasy, right?) it would even make sense .

 

I've done the doppleganger party in BG1, maxing their stats in a better way:
Ajantis
Jaheira
Branwen
Imoen
Minsc
PC necromancer

Since I had all the portraits, I did a BoM party for the first 2 chapters of BG2:
chevalier - human cavalier (duh! )
Harbourboy - human fighter
Arabwel - elf F/M
Master of Nuhn - elf cleric of Lathander (another duh! )
Beren - halfelf F/D
khaavern - human sorcerer

 

Speaking of Final Fantasy, what about VII?? or VI? Definitely the two best in the franchise.

Cloud = Berserker (he does go alittle loopy in the game and give him a two handed sword, definitely)
Aeris = Ranger/Cleric (Ranger for druid spells, since she is sorta connected to the Land due to her blood)
Tifa = Monk (no contest for my favourite character )
Vincent = Archer (him and his guns. would make him a druid for shapeshifting, but then he would be alittle out of character. And rangers are sorta like lone wolves anyway sorta like him)
Yuffie = Assassin (with throwing knives for this little lady and lotsa skillpoints in pickpocketing)
Cait Sith = Jester (seems logical. and he uses speakerphones as his weapons anyway)
Cid = Cavalier (seems fit for the job, since he sorta reminds me of Keldorn in a somehow fatherly way, although he isin't really lawful enough to be a paladin. Obviously would be wielding spears/halbards)
Barret = Berserker (or another Archer? Berserker seems more fitting, since he is more like a brawler)
Red XIII = Shapeshifter (keep him in wolf form which is quite fitting, no other choice in class)

 

Heh. I've done Ultima-themed parties before now. How you mix them can vary a bit, because it the abilities of your followers varied quite a bit between games. Iolo is the most obvious example, because he could stand in either for a Bard or Archer in BGII. As Crossbow expertise is his thing, I normally go Archer. It also fits better with his utter lack of spellcasting in UVII. Generally, I translate the companions thusly:

Iolo - as discussed

Shamino - Ranger (duh), but often Stalker in BG2 because in UIV and V Rangers couldn't use armour better than leather.

Dupre - Cavalier; Paladin is his named class in Ultimas passim, but Cavalier fits best (imo). Generally managed to shoot my Avatar in the back of the head if I did give him a bow of any kind in UVII, and hard-learned lessons don't fade.

Jaana - Druid in the Ultimas, this causes problems in BG2 because she was only ever an essential party member for her ability to raise the dead. She also lacked any Shapeshift: Furball style abilities. Still, I normally go for Avenger, as it best simulates her physical weakness and lack of HPs. Totemic is another option, but either way it's probably best to do a swift edit in SK to give her Resurrection powers and about 1 CON point, for that authentic Ultima VII feel.

Geoffrey - Fighter. Sword + Shield. Move along, nothing to see here...

Mariah - Mage in Ultima, so you've got a pretty free choice in BG2. I must confess that I normally go for Conjurer or Sorcerer for the power, but generalist is probably closer to the mark.

Julia - One of the non-obvious ones, she's a "Tinker" in the Ultima series. Basically, she was a fighter with too few HP, not enough strength, no spells and no other notable combat bonuses. However, as Tinker implies Trap/Lock handling, a Swashbuckler/Fighter dual fits quite well, I think. Swashbuckler/Cleric might work too, actually, as I think Tinkers may have been able to cast some spells in UIV, but that's far too long ago for me to remember accurately.

Katrina - Another non-standard one, but even more bizarre. Her class was "Shepherd". Yes, you heard me right, Shepherd. Not that she got any "Charm Ovine" special abilities or anything, she was supposed to represent the Virtue of Humility. In game terms, this meant she was crap. Weak as a kitten, no armour, no spells and couldn't use any decent weapons (in UIV-V, anyway). Is well approximated by a low-level monk, just so long as you keep her at level 8 or so. If she starts getting any monk abilities, she might start being useful, which would defeat the object somewhat. Kind of like an in-game difficulty modifier, Katrina was guaranteed to make things that bit more challenging, especially if you decided to try and keep her alive rather than just let her die and let Jaana raise her later.

The Avatar - in early Ultimas, you were one of the 8 classes of the Virtues. Later Ultimas had you as a Fighter/Mage type, and that's probably the best approximation to UVII & VIII's Avatar. Fighter/Cleric could apply too (but for the weapon restrictions), but Paladin is also a good bet. However, if I'm really going to simulate the way I played in UVII & VIII, I'd have to choose Swashbuckler/Mage. Why? Well, as a wise man once said:

Which was pretty much my strategy. UVII being the first Ultima I'd played, I had no idea about the whole Virtues thing, and proceeded to make my way out of Trinsic with everything that wasn't nailed down. Especially if it was shiny, natch. Of course, as Garriot himself is reported to have once said "Stealing is OK, as long as it's done right", I feel vindicated.

Combat strategy usually involved letting Dupre and Shamino get beaten up while I nuked stuff with a Firedoom staff or The Black Sword. Ahh, the Black Sword. Easily the coolest item in any game ever.

Still, this post is already far too long, and could write another 5 pages on Arkadion alone. So, I won't. Save to add that all Ultima fans who hanker after some nostalgic insta-death action should keep their eyes open for the latest version of the BoM Item Pack, and remember to invest some points in Bastard Swords for when the time comes.

[ November 08, 2005, 15:08: Message edited by: The Magpie ]

 

Star Trek: TNG

Worf - Dwarven Berserker
Will Riker - Human Bard (he's a charmer)
Deanna Troi - Half-elven Wild Mage or Sorceress (Psionic would be better, but...)
Beverly Crusher - Human Cleric
Jean-Luc Picard - Human Paladin?
...who would be the thief? Geordi? Data?


Star Trek: DS9

Quark - Halfling Thief
Odo - Human (he was for a brief period, and it makes a good default) Shapeshifter, or maybe Avenger
Julian Bashir - Human Cleric
Worf (again? ) - Dwarven Berserker
Ben Sisko - Human Wild Mage (Emissary of the Prophets)
Kira Nerys - Elven F/T or Human Stalker

 

Resurrected!

WTF Shouldn't he be rougish

 

Ah, what could be more nerdy than a merging of those three archetypally nerdy things: computers, D&D, and Star Trek?

But because it is actually so fascinating (making me a nerd, I guess), I would say that Geordi would be best suited to most thiefy activities (like disabling the unstable warp core or bypassing an airlock circuit) but not sure if he has any stealthy skills......

 

Yeah, there's the gadgets, but I'm not sure how far that goes.

Well, the actor (Michael Dorn) does have to wear a lot of prosthetic makeup for the Klingon look, but I don't think there's any rouge in there. And I don't think he's roguish, either.

 

... I think Star Trek's only apeal to me, is 7 of 9. Nevertheless an iteresting idea.

 

There was that sneaky "archeologist" who charmed Picard while he was on vacation. IIRC, her name was Jillian?

Tom Paris has that thiefy quality.

 

@ Kuemper:

Her name was Vash, I'm fairly certain. I think Jillian was the marine biologist who came back to the future ( ) with the crew in Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home.

Bart Simpson: *gasp* I'm a nerd!

Milhouse: *gasp* So am I!

 

You mean Gillian Taylor?

Vash, that's right. I was paying more attention to Picard's bare chest.

 

The chest was most definitely not lost on me. I was multi-tasking.

 

Agreed.

A good interpretation, although I'd definitely pin Vivi as an Evoker, Dagger as an Abjurer->Cleric, Quina as a Wild Mage, and Zidane as a Swashbuckler dual-wielding daggers.

Freya, on the other hand, strikes me as a Cavalier instead of a pure fighter. Steiner's got this Inquisitor look, but a pure-class Paladin is just as well. Amarant is fitting as a monk, but Eiko is just too peculiar. She strikes me as a Ranger/Cleric in wizard robes and very little CON.

And now for a list of my own -- FFVI;

Terra -- Wild Mage / Conjurer
Locke -- A pure-class thief or a Bounty Hunter
Edgar -- This one's a toughie. I'd have to go with a Fighter/Rogue multiclass.
Sabin -- Obviously a monk
Celes -- Inquisitor / Wizard Slayer
Cyan -- Fighter / Kensai
Gau -- Feralan if using mods, failing that, he'd probably be an Avenger
Mog -- Definitely a Cavalier
Setzer -- Hard to say. A pure-class Bard?
Shadow -- My, my. Sounds like an Assassin all right, doesn't it?
Strago -- Another Wild Mage.
Relm -- A pictomancer? Sounds like a bard all right.
Umaro -- Barbarian
Gogo -- A wildcard? I'd have to go with Jester, since it's the closest he's at. Besides, his "mimic" ability can be equivalent to the Bard's jack-of-all-trades aspect.

Whew, what a list.

 

Hmm, Vash isn't bad. Especially since it sets up two love triangles in the party. (Worf-Troi-Riker & Crusher-Picard-Vash.)

Let's get the rest of the FFs out of the way, eh?

FF1:
Fighter - Human Fighter
Thief - Elven Thief
White Mage - Human Cleric
Black Mage - Human Mage
Black Belt - Human Monk
Red Mage - Half-elven C/M

FF: Mystic Quest
PC - Human Fighter
Kaeli - Half-elven Druid or F/D (for axes?)
Tristam - Human Thief
Reuben - Human Fighter or Fighter->Cleric
Phoebe - Human Thief->Mage (for bow usage)

FFIV
Cecil - Human Paladin (duh)
Edward - Human Bard (duh)
Rosa - Human Cleric
Rydia - Half-elven Conjurer
Yang - Human Monk
Edge - Human Thief

 

oddly enough, speaking of star trek and Vash, i just saw the episode where Q sets up the crew as Robin Hood and his merry men.

Robin Hood: Archer
Little John: Fighter, quarterstaves
Will Scarlet: Swashbuckler or F/T, dual daggers
Friar Tuck: Cleric, clubs
Alan-a-Dale: Bard
Maid Marian: Sorceress

FF Mytic Quest, didn't think anyone actually played that game (wish i hadn't)

 

I’m sure this has been done before, but oh well, not by me. I won’t even bother naming the theme, as anyone with even a speck of geek knows who these guys are:

-Gandalf – Human Fighter7/Evoker
-Aragorn – Human Ranger
-Gimli – Dwarven Berserker
-Legolas – Elven Archer
-Arwen – Elven Fighter/Cleric
-Frodo – Halfling Thief

That group almost wrote itself, it was so obvious.

 

This might not ring too many bells for a lot of you, but how about a Stormbringer party - ah those Young Kingdoms!

Elric of Melnibone - Elf multi Fighter/Mage specialized in two handed swords. Very low CON -like 6 or 7 (he's albino)- and low hit points. Highest STR, INT and DEX possible. Needs to use potions of fortitude often to survive. Would be the perfect son of Bhaal as he is a pawn of Gods in the Elric saga.

Dyvim Tvar of Melnibone: Elf Fighter, uses two-handed swords and hallebards. Strong fighter Stats, and high Charisma and INT.

Moonglum of Elwher - Human Blade dual wielding Katanas and Short Swords (or Kensai dualled thief, or Assassin dualled fighter.. but I think Blade is best since he plays some music). High DEX and STR and CON. Above average INT and CHA but weak WIS.

Smiorgan Baldhead of the Purple Isle - Human Swashbuckler dualled fighter at level 7(all points in open locks and detect traps). He uses axes. Low CHA but excellent fighter stats.

Rackhir The Red Archer: Human Archer with highest possible wisdom. Will be the Druid magic caster of the group. (tecnically an archer/priest, but needs to use Bows so I put him Archer and he'll get some druid spells)

The Dark Lady, Myshella: Human Sorcerer with high INT and WIS and CHA.

[ August 07, 2006, 21:43: Message edited by: Brettoni ]