I'm curious about people's different playing styles. I see really varied answers on how to deal with encounters in here and I have been wondering how people play BG. I don't think one way is any better than the other. I am just interested in finding out how people play.

My question is this:
Are you a roleplayer or a powergamer?

I see powergamers having some of the following qualities:
-uses AI weakness to win battles
-buffs up party before certain battles the characters would not have any pre-knowledge of (e.g. the Nashkel Cemetary battle where a powergamer would use protection from fire spells before initiating the fight)
-goes around and does every quest, regardless if it makes sense for the character
-tries to do whatever is possible to level up as much as possible
-constant reloads in order to get the max HP on level-ups

and roleplayers having some of these qualities:
-write biography for player character and any other created characters
-fight battles as they come without taking unfair advantage of player game knowledge
-only does quests that make sense for the character
-does not take advantage of the AI weaknesses to win battles
-accepting bad level-ups

Anyway, these are both short lists, but you get the point. How would you describe your playing style?

I will call my self a blend of both styles, but for the most I think I`m a powergamer=) I do the things I feel is right for me for instance but I also prepares for battles and so on. But I`m not sure what you mean with AI weakness? Please tell=)
What about yourself Katherine?

I try to be a surviving player and to do that I gotta be a powerplayer cause otherwise I would get killed in no time...

Thanks for the tip of doing reloads to get good HP:s on level-ups! Gotta start on that now as my seventh (or was it sixth) level main character only has 20 hit points...

I must call myself a powergamer - at least if you use your definition

Especially when it comes to Hp, I always goes for the max - but I also take my characters all the way through to ToB so I NEED lots of Hp

And when it comes to quest you can pretty much do every one - either for "good" or for the money (evil players need more money - they don't get a discount for high rep.)

I aspire to be a rollplayer. I think I am 80% of the way there when playing a party. But my latest game is with a solo character, so survival has forced me to prep for known battles more than would be real. But reloading to get max hit points on a level up is definately cheating in my book.

Off Topic here but i wanted to ask Katherine about custom portraits, i do have Adobe Photoshop 6.0 but i still cand find how to edit the colr depth, can you help?

Let's see.....I'm a roleplayer who sometimes powergames. I do write bios where appropriate, and only recruit NPCs that fit well with my PC's alignment/background....I just choose the best NPCs that fit well. I try to do every quest, no matter what my alignment is; Good characters say "There's Evil to be fought everywhere," and Evil characters say "How much will you give me if I do this?"

Taking advantage of the AI is pure cheese--I won't do it, unless the enemies involved are supposed to be really stupid anyway, like Golems. I try not to cast buffing spells before a fight unless my characters know (or have a pretty good idea) a fight is coming up. I'll reload for hitpoints if it's less than 1/2 what they could have gotten, or less than 2/3 if it's a Mage or my Tank. I will do things like attack a Mage, let him cast protection spells on himself, then run away until the protections wear off, but only if I have my own Mage who can say, "Okay, that particular spell should have worn off by now," or a Thief who can Stealth up and see if the enemy Mage is still invulnerable.

I do both, am a powergamer and roll player. I don't care about hit points, only take npc's that make sense for my party, even if they aren't as strong as other npc's. Sometimes I will get my tail kick all over a place, then re-load and tank up the characters or cast a few spells before initiating contact.

Kam

Sure. You can PM me with your questions and I will help if I can.

The AI is the Artificial Intelligence. In this game, it's basically a script that says a hostile NPC will do this, then that, then this. Basically, they behave according to a predictable pattern that is easy to work around as the NPC will not adapt.
There's also the aspect of NPCs being tied to a specific location. For example, the Bandit Camp conflict has the main baddies all stuck in that tent. If you run out of the tent, they will not follow you and the NPCs outside are not hostile. You can even go as far as sleeping on the doorstep of the tent to regain spells before re-entering. This is an example of taking advantage of the game's limitation.

And, I mostly have done the roleplaying style, but have done many of the things I mentioned as 'powergamish.'
Mostly, though, I stick to the roleplaying aspects as it's more satisfying to me. I still might reload if my mage gets 1 HP on a level-up, but not always. Sometimes, I just let the roll stand and press save.

The only time I'd use a protection spell beforehand is with Protection From Acorns right before the Squirrel Goddess attacks. All priase the Squirrel Goddess!