DE, BG2, Bards, Drow, and a question

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Twilight'sHammer, Jan 4, 2004.

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  1. Twilight'sHammer

    Twilight'sHammer New Member

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    I was talking with DE earlier via MSN, and we were talking about favorite characters classes in Baldur's Gate Two. He likes Elven Archers, but thought that (if possible) a Drow Bard would be a strong character (dispite his disliking bards. :x ). I was just curious to see what anyone else thought of the idea of a Drow Bard. Do you think it would be a good or bad character? and why? I think that if you could make a drow bard, it would be a strong character (DE was talking about they get a bonus to several traits, but I cannot recall them :/ ).
     
  2. Wolf

    Wolf New Member

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    A Drow bard would suck because

    A. Drow aren't by any means used to being above ground.
    B. Most Drow are evil, and an evil bard seems pretty pointless to me as they perform music for other peoples pleasure.
    C. Drow are generally shuned from society.
     
  3. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    That, and you're a fucking heretic and heathen for talking about BG/BG2 when I'm around :).

    Oh yeah, bards suck big time as well. "Jack-of-all-trades, master of none"? More like "Shit-at-all-trades, master of crap".
     
  4. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    Bards are actually good for over all rounds, if your doing things solo, then use a bard....

    Other then that, the best class to be when playing a Drow would be a Cleric, for they do favor that class. :p


    And there isn't a "best" class for any races, most races can do anything....it all depends on the party and the campaign that you are playing in.

    For Baldurs gate...I don't really know what would be good...I don't remember if there's a cleave attack in that game....cause fighters with greater cleave are just the masters :p
     
  5. jankiel

    jankiel Member

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    A. Drow bards could just perform in the underdark.
    B. If I'm correct there was an evil bard in Baldurs Gate 1
     
  6. Wolf

    Wolf New Member

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    A. Drow society has no use of bards.
    B. You got me there, but that doesn't mean evil guys make good bards.
     
  7. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    Well, my point is that drow would make quite excellent bards statwise, although they would suffer a bit from their ECL penalty. But other than that, drow receive a bonus to Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma, which are the main stats of the bard class.

    Full list of drow abilities:

    +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution

    Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day- dancing lights, darkness, and
    faerie fire. These abilities are as the spells cast by a sorcerer
    of the drow's character level.
    Darkvision up to 120 feet.
    Spell resistance 11 + class level.
    +2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells and spell-like
    abilities.
    Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such
    as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds drow for 1 round. In
    addition, they take a -1 circumstance penalty on all attack
    rolls, saves, and checks while operating in bright light.
    Proficient with longsword, rapier, longbow, composite
    longbow, shortbow, and composite shortbow, regardless of
    character class.
    Immunity to magic sleep spells and effects.
    +2 racial bonus on Will saves against Enchantment spells
    or effects.
    +2 racial bonus on Search, Spot, and Listen checks. A
    drow who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or
    concealed door is entitled to a Search check as though
    actively looking for it.
    Note that a draegloth with class levels has Spell Resistance
    11, despite its number of Hit Dice.
    Level Adjustment +2: Drow are more powerful and gain levels at a rate of about two levels behind the other common races of Faerun.

    Ouch...

    EDIT: Forgot to add the level adjustment, heh.
     
  8. labyrinthian

    labyrinthian New Member

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    Because of their ridiculous bonuses (given originally since they were never intended to be a PC class), Drow are great for any class they are allowed to take. Fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric, whatever. Sure they'd be good bards from a power gamer/video game perspective. They'd be good anything. You could probably even come up with a good back story to explain them being just about anything. A Drow raised normally by normal Drown would never be a bard, but there's nothing to say one Drow wasn't raised by Deep Gnomes or a multiracial cave complex filled with refugees from above and below or whatnot.

    It's my opinion that the Drow are broken as a PC class. They have spell resistance. Natural spell-like abilities. Stupidly good starting equipment. The light penalty just doesn't make up for that.
     
  9. jankiel

    jankiel Member

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    Again I remember that in BG 2 in the drow city(can't remember the name)
    in the tawern there were some guys that you could ask about drow history and such, personaly I belive these could be bards.
     
  10. labyrinthian

    labyrinthian New Member

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    More likely they were just sages.

    Drow tend to be a tad serious for adventurous singing. I guess there could be Drow music, but I doubt it would inspire courage in anybody but a Drow.
     
  11. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    Well, there's this ECL penalty as well, although I doubt even that would make them balanced. With their abilities, a drow is essentially a one-man army all by itself. Of course, that's why munchkins tend to like them... :roll:

    No. You can't be a drow bard in BG (sorry Matt) and there's no cleave or greater cleave whatsoever. 2nd ed was boring in this aspect. No feats...

    Wrong. There's a feat called "Daylight Adaption" which removes all daylight penalites. Quite favoured by drow and duergar players.

    That's not the only point of being a bard. Why on earth couldn't a bard be evil? A bard could as well use her powers for evil purposes.
     
  12. jankiel

    jankiel Member

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    That's the point, drows usually don't appear among other races so they could be bards among their own kind
     
  13. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    You all don't seem to enjoy the Drows all too much, they are actually one of my favorite races....course, I enjoy the Illithid (Mind Flayer) a lot better, because they are just....better then anything else :p

    And actually, I think there is a difference between the Male Drow and the Female Drow, I think the Female Drow has a lot more added to thier stats and the Male actually has more subtraction.... (3rd edition rules, that is...)

    I'll get the book...eh, I think that's for NPC Drows....so it says in the DMs guide, which I do not have at this time....


    Well, anyway, the Drow society is basically the opposite of us, it's ran by the females. The females are a lot better then the males and everyone follows them more...or something =/
     
  14. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    Actually, mine too (obviously)! It's just that I don't really like how overpowered they are.

    Really? I have the 3.5 Monster Manual* open before me right now. It doesn't state anything about statistical differences based on gender, save the difference in favoured classes.

    I believe that prior to the revision however, drow males received a -2 Charisma modifier instead of the +2 bonus. Could be wrong though.

    No surprise then that they are so evil! (takes cover!!!)

    *Yeah, as a PDF file. Bite me.
     
  15. Twilight'sHammer

    Twilight'sHammer New Member

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    Now imagine a bard with those ablities. Not long is he swinging one (or two) long swords, (or whatever), but he's stronger than everyone else, as he levels quicker. If you've read any of the stories, DE, from the Forgotten Realms Series, the Drow Society is almost identical in nature to humans. They want to get ahead of other families. It's just that in the UnderDark you can actually go up or down in rank, as where with humans it's not such a literal thing. I *had* the monster manual as a PDF. I lost it when I switched drives. :cry: :-( :cry: Jar, why do you hate Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate two so much? they are two of my favorite RPG's of all tyme. :)
     
  16. Flink

    Flink New Member

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    I think, (tho I could be wrong) the only differance between male and female drow is that males have the wizard as his favored class while drow women have the cleric as their favored class being that they are the leaders of their culture and connect with Lolth, their godess.
     
  17. chrisbeddoes

    chrisbeddoes New Member

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  18. Flink

    Flink New Member

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    They require more exp. to level up. They always remain two levels behind regular characters if I remember correctly.
     
  19. chrisbeddoes

    chrisbeddoes New Member

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    What happens when you hit a level cap ?

    Do they stop leveling or do they reach the maximum level like everybody else ?
     
  20. Flink

    Flink New Member

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    I would figure that they hit the cap 2 levels below. So if the level cap is 10 they would stop leveling at 8. Tho this of course depends on the campaign....
     
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