Fair play

[Mahlennacht]

Some interesting handicapping ideas here - cool

Yah, no-reload is pretty ultimate. I never did PnP but there's no such thing as "oh, I take it back, lemme do this instead..." in AD&D, correct? If I ever finished a no-reload game I'd be partying afterward - I don't know if I can ever be that good.

As for OOC knowledge like Twisted Rune, obviously we can always come up with a storyline excuse to do the quest, like, say, "...Aerie thought the Rogue Stone was so beautiful she wanted to keep at least one for herself in her gembag" or something like that. That's no problem because at least you're thinking creatively...

ELMONSTER'S JOURNAL - Nice read, I think it's well-written though there is quite a bit of OOC knowledge there, like in the Kangaxx fight. But I think that's because he probably wanted to demonstrate as much about the game as he could. Personally I don't know how to plausibly RP the Kangaxx encounter without getting most of my party buried alive, I'm still working on that problem... I'm open to suggestions...

As for Dragon attacks - aw come on, I'm at core rules and I ALWAYS seem to have someone in my party taking 70 damage from dragon's breath no matter what I do

[Luvian]

Originally posted by Mahlennacht: As for OOC knowledge like Twisted Rune, obviously we can always come up with a storyline excuse to do the quest, like, say, "...Aerie thought the Rogue Stone was so beautiful she wanted to keep at least one for herself in her gembag" or something like that. That's no problem because at least you're thinking creatively...

The first time I played the game, I randomly stumbled in there. I was exploring, and happened to have a rogue stone in my bag. If it could happen to me, I don't see why it could not happen to other people.

When I was playing Pen and Paper D&D and found a precious gem, I didn't run to the shop to sell it. Money is heavy and hard to carry, while a single gem is easy to hide.

[Dr. Harius]

I think that the crux of the issue is the reload...I am in my first stint through BG2, though I am really more of a RPG w/ friends gamer (I just play on the comp when I can't get friends)...
The truth is for roleplaying: you can't reload. When I was wandering through Athkatla (however it's spelled) we were ambushed by bandits and they surrounded Aerie and one of them got a crit and she exploded!!!! My mouth was hanging open, but I kept going with that because I thought it was interesting...Similarly in BG1 Imoen was exploded by a fire trap and I had to go w/out a theif for a while.
However, BG is not primarily a roleplaying game...it's a tactical simulator. Take the Red Dragon example...there aren't always enough visual, audio and text cues provided in the original game design to justify playing completely without metagaming...plus you can't ask questions. For example, when I was trying to infiltrate the rival guild to the Shadow Theives (I still haven't completely figured that out yet...) I accidentally scared the two other new recruits by asking them questions such as "you aren't a spy, are you..." until they attackedme out of fear. Looking back at the whole dialogue, I could see that it made sense, but without tone of voice cues and the ability to ask questions ("Do they really seem freaked?") I was a bit surprised.
Please don't take this as criticism of BG...to the contrary, I think it is amazing what they do, but I just think that given the pre-packaged nature of the game, some metagaming is necessary...
As to the original question though...I do think that trying it without reloads is the most honorable and challenging thing. Or you can do like our friend Bernardo who confided that he played BG1 all the way up till he actually reached the town of Baldurs Gate before he realized that he could increase his level (yes, 75% of the game at first level!) Would that be challenging enough for you?

[cerandil]

Originally posted by Leslie: Another idea that I have is to have a party and never change weapons for each individual unless in weapon slot (main hand) or when acquiring a new and better weapon.

Aside from your one or two (including dual wield) main weapons, only keep smaller weapons like daggers or shortswords in your other quickslots, since there are limits besides weight to what people can carry. The idea of anyone hauling around say, four 2-handed swords, and switching between them at will, is patently ridiculous.

Another one is to avoid freely exchanging equipment between your characters, especially major items. Characters (and the people playing them) would naturally be reluctant to give stuff up, unless it was a some kind gift (i.e. to a romance), or a minor item like a potion. Even your best friend is unlikely to up and give you his Amulet of Power just because he now has an Improved Mace of Disruption and you want protection from draining. Especially with an evil party, this could get reeaallly interesting. Just distributing gear after a fight could become an rp scenario. And what are the chances of Korgy trying to off Viconia for that nice Crom Faeyr? Pretty high I'd say.

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Mahlennacht: Personally I don't know how to plausibly RP the Kangaxx encounter without getting most of my party buried alive, I'm still working on that problem... I'm open to suggestions...

One of my (multitudinous) ideas for a new NPC is a fellow named Fox Pesdassi, a Half-Elven Acolyte. (Bard kit, can cast up to 9th-level spells, appropriate drawbacks.) Anyway, Fox fancies himself an author, and his home contains a set of manuscripts that he might publish individually or as part of a single large work. I've already finished Fox's Book of Golems, and Fox's Book of Undead is going to go all the way up to Demi-Lich, with extensive detail on their Demilich Howl and Trap the Soul abilities, as well as the vast array of weapons and spells have have been seen to have no effect whatsoever against Demiliches.....thus providing an in-game source of information that roleplayers can use to beat Kangaxx without reloading.