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Baldur's Gate: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Minsc_and_Boo.jpg|link=Ensemble Darkhorse|frame|Minsc and Boo, series mascot(s).]]
{{quote|''"[[Rant-Inducing Slight|OK, I've just about had my]] '''[[Rant-Inducing Slight|FILL]]''' of [[Only Smart People May Pass|riddle asking]], [[With This Herring|quest assigning]], [[Deadpan Snarker|insult throwing]], [[Hurricane of Puns|pun hurling]], [[Hostage for McGuffin|hostage taking]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|iron mongering]], [[Insufferable Genius|smart arsed]] [[The Fool|fools]], [[Cloudcuckoolander|freaks]], and [[Complete Monster|felons]] [[Surrounded
''Baldur's Gate'' is a [[Role Playing Game]] series set in the [[High Fantasy]] setting ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', using an adaptation of the Advanced ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' 2e revised ruleset. It was developed by [[
The game's focus is on quests, characterization and dialogue, combined with a solid combat system and a continuous plotline. (Although the games can be played entirely separately -- in fact, ''many'' fans will suggest that new gamers start with ''Baldur's Gate II''.)
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** Baldur's Gate II: Throne Of Bhaal (expansion pack)
The setting also crosses over with ''[[Icewind Dale]]'', and ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' is considered a sister game to the series.
The plot centers around a hero who is regularly pursued due to power granted by a [[Mysterious Parent]]: Some want those abilities for themselves, others are simply fearful of what the hero may become because they know [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]. The first game centers around the hero learning about the powers and their source; the second deals with the consequences and choices that come with that power and knowledge.
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The series is best known for its memorable selection of sidekicks, which your hero can have up to five of at any time. All have distinct, if sometimes simple, personalities and backstories, and most will drag you into at least one side quest unique to them if they stay on your team long enough. Especially in the sequel, they become fully fleshed-out characters and have a tendency to make comments or suggestions about the current situation, and interact with each other extensively.
Prior to creating ''[[
A novelization exists, [[Fanon Discontinuity|but we prefer not to speak of it]].
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An [[Updated Rerelease|enhanced version]] was [http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/15/atari-reveals-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-for-summer-2012/ announced on March 15th 2012].
There's a [[
----
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* [[Armor Is Useless]]: Not the case in game, but the philosophy of the kensai kit, that a true master of his weapon need not enter battle with encumbrance.
** Actually true in the [[To B]] expansion. Both you and your enemies have so much Thac0 that almost all attacks automatically hit anyway, doesn't matter if you are naked or wearing full-plate armor made of dragon scale, carrying tower shield and being protected by several spells increasing your AC.
* [[Arrows
* [[Artifact Title]]: Baldur's Gate isn't visited at all in the second game. (Discounting the tutorial section of course.)
* [[Author Vocabulary Calendar]]: Whoever wrote the love tracks for Jaheira and Viconia seemed to have a particular fondness for the word "maudlin".
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* [[Battle Cry]]: Every party member has a few.
* [[Bear Trap]]: Traps laid by thieves look like this. They're much more lethal than your standard bear trap, though.
* [[The Beast Master]]: [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Beat Still My Heart]]: Baldur's Gate II has one part of a quest where you need to get one of these from a demon to be able to leave a particular dungeon. The expansion, Throne Of Bhaal, requires you to destroy one (in fact, two) in order to make an enemy vulnerable, allowing you to kill him.
* [[Bedlam House]]: Spellhold in BG2.
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* [[The Call Knows Where You Live]]
* [[The Cameo]]: A few canonical [[Forgotten Realms]] characters show up, some just to say "Hi" and others to play slightly larger roles in the plot.
* [[Can't Argue
* [[Can't Catch Up]]: Particularly in the first game, several characters can't be recruited until well into the game. Although they'll be leveled approximately equally to the PC if they're added to the party, their skills, weapon proficiencies, spellbooks, and/or HP will have been determined by the computer in a sub-optimal fashion. As a result, they're likely to be underpowered compared to characters who have been in the party for the entire game, and since due to the experience cap you can't level them further, there's no way for them to catch up.
* [[Capital City]]: Athkatla, the capital of Amn.
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** In the second game if you don't feel like wasting spells on melting the bodies of downed trolls, one particular acid-damage club makes the proficiency come in very handy.
* [[Casanova Wannabe]]: Salvanas the elf.
* [[Character Development]]: Particularly in ''Shadows of Amn'', in which the developers incorporated lots of [[
* [[Character Portrait]]: Critical characters get them.
* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: For about 99% of the game, Detect Evil is only good as an [[Enemy Detecting Radar]]. {{spoiler|That other 1%? A sidequest where using it is the only way to get a good outcome.}}
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** Also, the circles around a character's feet tell you if they're a recruitable NPC (green), a neutral NPC (cyan), Fleeing/Berserk (yellow) or hostile (red).
* [[Colour-Coded Timestop]]
* [[Combat
* [[Compilation Rerelease]]: For BG1 with TotSC as ''The Original Saga'', BG2 with ToB as ''The Collection'', and now all four in one.
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: The Temple Ruins dungeon in ''Baldur's Gate II'' features pits of red-hot magma. Characters can walk within six inches of them without being affected; they'll only take damage if they actually step on the lava.
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* [[Critical Hit]]: On an attack roll of 20, and possibly 19 with style proficiencies.
* [[Critical Psychoanalysis Failure]]: {{spoiler|Irenicus takes over Spellhold, an asylum which is supposed to specialize in holding powerful wizards.}}
* [[Cut His Heart Out
* [[Cutting Off the Branches]]: Done to an extreme in the sequel. The game dialogue and set-up tells you exactly who you traveled with -- Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Dynaheir and Imoen -- and tells you exactly how you behaved -- heroically. Needless to say, rationalizing what you are shown and told in the intro level was very difficult if you were [[Chaotic Evil]]. Unless, of course, you're [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], and your character wants to be a [[Villain
** Alas, given the way the game world works, the difference between a [[Villain
** Officially it goes even further, as the Baldur's Gate novels are Forgotten Realms canon which solidifies, among other things, Jaheira as the canon [[Love Interest]], [[Canon Name|Abdel]] being a [[True Neutral]] fighter with black hair who wore a chainmail tunic, and other details.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: BG1's themes weren't nearly as grim as some of the elements of BG2.
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* [[Demonic Spider]]: Beholders and Mind Flayers.
** Umber Hulks also fit into this category, as despite having an easily exploited [[Weaksauce Weakness]] they are exceedingly fast and their ability to stun targets at a distance can easily cripple a party if you're unlucky, low level or ill prepared.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Happens to a number of playable characters from ''Baldur's Gate'' who don't have [[Dropped a Bridge
* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything/Baldurs Gate|Has its own page.]]
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: The [[Bonus Boss]] battle against {{spoiler|Demogorgon, the ''D&D'' multiverse's most powerful Demon Lord}} in a straight fight. {{spoiler|Amelyssan}} also counts, seeing as how she was almost 99.99% the Goddess of Murder by the time you fought her.
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* [[The Dragon]]: Bodhi for Irenicus in ''Shadows of Amn''. Draconis for Abazigal in ''Throne of Bhaal''. Unmodded, Draconis can often be ''more difficult'' than Abazigal.
* [[Dronejam]]: Common in the first game due to the atrocious pathfinding. Alleviated in the sequel as party members gained the ability to push other people out of the way.
* [[Dropped a Bridge
* [[Drop the Hammer]]: The Hammer of Thunderbolts + 3 qualifies on its own, but becomes an [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One Hammer]] when forged with a few other things into Crom Fayr - which, aside from being insanely powerful and slaying some golems and giants instantly, increases the wielder's strength to the highest it's possible to attain.
* [[Dual-Wielding]]: The style that generally gives the best damage output. If the character has the right setup, dual wielding can be better than a two-handed weapon, but it has its share of penalties such as to-hit penalties and needing one more point for full proficiency than the other styles.
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* [[Enemy Chatter]]: Several scripted encounters which may or may not end in a fight.
* [[Epic Flail]]: The Flail of Ages on its own makes having a character with proficiency in flails worthwhile.
* [[Everything's Better
{{quote| '''[[Hello, Insert Name Here|CHARNAME]]:''' [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe|Forsooth! Methinks]] you are no ordinary talking chicken!}}
** Alternatively...
{{quote| '''CHARNAME:''' Unholy magics are afoot! This '''chicken is possessed'''! This '''[[A Worldwide Punomenon|bird is FOUL]]'''!!!}}
* [[Everything's Better
** One of the quests in the first game requires you to rescue a farmer's cow from Xvarts. Doing so grants you reputation, XP and a useful tip from her owner.
** A Wild Mage surge in BG2 can cause a cow to materialize and fall on one of your party members.
* [[Everything's Worse
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: More like "Even Chaotic Neutral Has Standards" due to the implications of the alignment system, but the Shadow Thieves are this to the Assassins Guild in the second game.
* [[Every Man Has His Price]]: In ''Shadows of Amn'', the mercenary mages an old enemy, a former slaver, of Jaheira's hires to curse her can be convinced to abandon their employer if you offer to pay them more money when you track them down. Pay extra and they will even backstab him the moment he tries to summon them to his aid. You even ask their leader how much you would have to pay to get them to betray their contract. This adds an extra layer of defeat for the slaver since he spent his last savings on this revenge scheme while the few thousand gold you pay to turn his own mercs against him might be chicken feed to you at this point.
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* [[Expecting Someone Taller]]: Renal Bloodscalp reacts this way to the player character.
* [[Exponential Potential]]: The selection of spells available can become overwhelming.
* [[Eye Scream]]: The Cult of the Unseeing Eye, membership in which requires [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Fairy Battle]]: In BG2, even though Drizzt is not hostile unless CHARNAME provokes him, encountering him is still accompanied by the narrator saying the party has been ambushed.
* [[False Innocence Trick]]
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* [[Fog of War]]
* [[Footnote Fever]]: The manuals, which seem to be at least partly in-universe documents, have the comments of Elminster and Volo scribbled in them.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: Baldur's Gate is often credited as singlehandedly saving the [[Western RPG]] genre from drying up entirely as well as [[Trope Codifier|setting the standards that RPGs follow today]]...though others would point out that the also heavily influential [[Fallout]] and [[
* [[Forest Ranger]]: The ranger is supposed to be this, though since the game doesn't have any mechanics associated with what environment the party is in, it doesn't really affect anything.
* [[Friendly Fireproof]]: Weirdly, averted with some AoE spells (e.g. Fireball, Lightning Bolt), but played straight with others (Comet, Horrid Wilting).
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* [[Genre Savvy]]: Cyric, the God of Madness, bizarrely enough. He has a private chat with the main character in a relatively human form for an avatar. In a [[But Thou Must!]] moment, you call him out on this, where he responds with something along the lines of "What, I ''have'' to have some grisly form like the Slayer (Bhaal's avatar {{spoiler|which the protagonist can turn into}}), some booming voice from the clouds or a puff of smoke?"
** Some dialogue options from the main character can indicate this as they portray the main character as someone who is frustrated by [[But Thou Must!|having to do what the story demands him to do]].
* [[Get
* [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]]: The [[Bonus Boss]] battle against the Enclave of the Twisted Rune, which was part of a subquest that was only partially implemented in the game's initial release, leaving players wondering what a group of ultra-powerful spellcasters were doing hanging out in the basement of a shipping warehouse in the Bridge District. Fan-made mods filled in the blanks, making this battle a bit less of a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]].
** There's also Semaj, who unlike Sarevok's other "elite" minions (Tazok, Angelo and Tamoka) received no prior characterization or buildup and seemed to be at the final battle just so the bad guys had a wizard on their side.
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* [[Gossip Evolution]]: After clearing Nashkel Mines, this can be noticed among the commoners.
* [[Grand Finale]]: ''Throne of Bhaal''
* [[Grievous Harm
* [[Grid Inventory]]: Inverted; the sizes of the objects do not matter, but their weights do.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: If you want to achieve [[One Hundred Percent Completion]], you'd better believe it. Entire areas of the game world can be [[Lost Forever]] if you don't go about things the right way.
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* [[Humans Are White]]: Averted. There are lots of non-white humans in addition to all the dwarves, elves, and gnomes.
* [[Hundred-Percent Heroism Rating]]: Actually, having a high reputation doesn't have as much of an effect as it could. Besides lower shop prices and the occasional dialogue that uses reputation as a script condition, the games are very inconsistent on whether townspeople actually recognize a high-reputation hero, or if they do, whether they care.
* [[I Fought the Law
* [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten]]: The player has to do this at points in the Shadow Thieves quest line, particularly while rooting out Mae'Var. However, since the Shadow Thieves are the gray half of Athkala's [[Black and Gray Morality]], it's not too bad. It's played a little more straight in some other quests, though.
* [[I Have Your Wife]]: {{spoiler|Bodhi}} pulls this by {{spoiler|abducting your lover and turning him/her into a vampire}} when {{spoiler|you enter the graveyard district to assault her guild}} in ''Baldur's Gate II''.
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* [[Infinity+1 Sword]]: Carsomyr, to the point where, when wielded by the already magic-resistant Inquisitor subclass, it's almost a [[Game Breaker]]. Crom Faeyr is an [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity-Plus-One Warhammer]]. In ''Throne of Bhaal'' almost every weapon class gets its own [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One]] variant.
** Then there's the Staff of the Magi, which despite being for mages only is just as good if not ''better'' than Carsomyr. Makes it very good for use by a fighter-mage variant.
* [[Informed Attribute]]: The player character's alignment. Since there's no real penalty for acting against alignment, even players who intend to be evil will usually pick a Good alignment for the [[Villain
* [[In Harmony
* [[Insane Troll Logic]]: We get some of this logic coming from an actual [[Exactly What It Says
{{quote| '''Troll Cook''': Hello there foodthing. You are just in time. Please just jump onto the grill over there.<br />
'''[[Hello, Insert Name Here|Protagonist]]''': Pardon me?<br />
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** In [[BG 1]], there is a belt that does nothing when worn except immediately and permanently change the PC's gender.
* [[Just a Stupid Accent]]: Major characters in these games come from all over the Forgotten Realms and are of different races. All speak grammatically perfect English (except those who tend towards [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]), but to give them each their own personal flair they do so with a wide variety of accents. There are [[Fake Brit|Fake Brits]], [[Lzherusskie|Lzherusskies]], [[Violent Glaswegian|Violent Glaswegians]], [[Fake American|Fake Americans]], and others. It keeps things entertaining, but definitely contributes to the games' [[Large Ham|distinctive]] [[Ham to Ham Combat|flavor]] of [[World of Ham|ham]].
* [[Just Toying
* [[Kangaroo Court]]: In ''Baldurs Gate'' ''2'' your character is subjected to one of these by an ambitious Harper. Granted, he may be right about you if you are playing an evil character, but that isn't why he is accusing you. No matter how you answer his questions, he will find a way to twist them and make you seem like a dangerous monster not unlike an illithid or beholder that needs to be sealed away forever. Jaheira calls him out on this and declares that he cares more about his own advancement than about actually protecting the balance. At least you have the option of being a [[Deadpan Snarker]] throughout the whole interrogation.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: The player runs across a few wrongdoers who may or may not escape justice, depending on his or her actions.
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** In order to have Anomen pass his Knighthood test if you're romancing him, you have to convince him that {{spoiler|he should let his sister's death go unavenged even though that means letting the killer get away with it}}.
*** No matter how you play it, Anomen's quest becomes a [[Shaggy Dog Story]]. If {{spoiler|he refuses to kill Saerk the first time, Saerk turns out to be the guy who kills his sister, and the PC must convince Anomen to let that killer go free in order to keep him in the party. The whole event is treated like a classic [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]] plot, but this is a game where even good characters will have to slaughter dozens of people every time you play in order to advance the story, making it a huge [[Broken Aesop]]. To cap it off, if Anomen does kill Saerk the first time, it's later revealed that two random mooks killed his sister, and that Anomen murdered an apparently innocent man and failed his lifelong dreams for no apparent reason at all. Although, given that Saerk was said to have hired the men who killed her rather than doing the deed himself it's likely that he was still guilty, Anomen's just too unlucky to find out that he killed the right man.}}
* [[Karma Meter]]: The reputation level. Unfortunately, you receive a significant bonus for a high reputation and serious penalties for a very low one, so it ends up being in the best interests of even the most psychotically evil of player characters to end up being a [[Villain
** As mentioned above, you can commit any atrocity you like as long as you donate money to the church occasionally, which is cheap enough to keep the guards off you. So it's not a very ''accurate'' karma meter.
* [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: Their base stats are significantly better than those of other one-handed weapons in the game, even competing with two-handed weapons in terms of damage output - a Kensai [[Dual Wield|dual wielding]] katanas is the game's single best melee damage dealer. In an unmodded game, this is balanced somewhat by the fact there is a far better selection of magical weapons for most other one-handed weapon types (although the magical katana known as the Celestial Fury is one of the best weapons prior to Throne of Bhaal), but the underlying assumption is still present.
* [[Kill It
* [[King Incognito]]: Elminster is initially encountered as this. CHARNAME apparently forgets what he looks like quick enough for him to do this ''again'' in the sequel.
* [[Kiss of Death]]: Shoal the Nereid in BG1.
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* [[The Minion Master]]: The beastmaster and Totemic Druid kits.
* [[Mirror Match]]: One of these occurs in the Pocket Plane.
** The first fight with Irenicus is also an example, though a particularly odd one, as he'll begin battle by casting 'Clone' a spell that [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Money for Nothing]]: In both games it's not too difficult to quickly amass more money than you'll ever need, as the player's income rate will increase dramatically with a little progress. Plus, as is standard for this kind of RPG, much of the best stuff is found rather than bought.
** It's a good thing gold is weightless and shared because if not by the end of the game your thief would be dragging around a sack the size of a small house.
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* [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much]]: Umar Hills contains a group of peaceful ogres just who want to trade with the town, but keep getting chased away because of the peoples' belief that ogres are [[Always Chaotic Evil]]. Some of the townspeople also blame them for the village's problems, even though the ogres were also affected by the problem and were even trying to help.
* [[Mysterious Parent]]
* [[Mythology Gag]]: In the sequel, those with the collector's edition (or a certain mod) will encounter merchants that carry items that serve as [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to [[Icewind Dale]] and [[Planescape: Torment]].
* [[Necromantic]]: Bassilus
* [[Never Got to Say Goodbye]]: The protagonist.
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* [[Optional Party Member]]: All of them, with the exception of the main character. It's possible to play the game with a player-created party, or even solo with the right character build, though you miss out on many of the best [[Sidequest|Sidequests]] if you do.
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: Obviously they're a scaled down version of the [[Dungeons and Dragons]] version. Most of those you see are evil, but Adalon is a notable exception, as are the green dragons in Hell (Shadows of Amn) and Abazigal's Lair (Throne of Bhaal). They're instant spellcasters (with some of the best/most annoying spells in the game), very intelligent, universally arrogant (including the good ones), and garish sycophancy is a minimum requirement for not being obliterated on sight. On the plus side, most will not attack you on sight, and none can fit through their enormous lair doors so you can always flee. Even the "easiest" dragons also give tens of thousands of experience, so it's worth the effort. Other kinds are alluded to, but very rare - two [[That One Boss|half dragons]], and the fairy dragon that [[Chaotic Good]] mages get as a familiar. It's also implied, as always in D&D, that sorcerers are descended from Dragons by way of explanation for their instant spellcasting.
* [[Our Genies Are Different]]: Djinn have their own clans and political systems said to be [[Blue and Orange Morality|incomprehensible to human minds]], are not interested in anything to do with [[Make a Wish|granting wishes]] unless they were magically summoned for that purpose, and are rarely [[Genie in
* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: As in, ''really'' bloodthirsty, without a bit of [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampires|fondness for the living]] or [[Evil Is Sexy|brooding sex appeal]] about them.
** Actually, that's how Bram Stoker originally envisioned vampires to be. It's modern day writers that have given vampires their sex appeal and fondness for the living.
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* [[Plot-Triggering Death]]: Two. Both Bhaal and Gorion's.
* [[Point and Click Map]]
* [[Poke in
* [[Police Are Useless]]: When investigating a string of murders in the Bridge district, if you present evidence to the guards' investigator instead of acting on it yourself, he'll get himself killed.
* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: Loads of them.
* [[Preorder Bonus]]: Pre-orders of Baldur's Gate 2 came with a bonus disc containing an extra merchant who sold exclusive, powerful items. In the UK, some pre-orders of the first game came with a copy of [[
* [[Promoted to Unlockable]]: Sarevok in "Throne of Bhaal".
* [[Psycho for Hire]]: Quite a few [[Punch Clock Villain|punch clock villains]], as well as recruitable allies Korgan and Montaron.
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* [[Random Encounters]]: Some random encounters provide you with very respectable quantities of gold and valuable [[Vendor Trash]], and others occur randomly but tie directly into plotline events or subquests and as such aren't pointless.
* [[Rant-Inducing Slight]]: See quote on top of the page.
* [[Real Time
* [[Rebellious Princess]]: A few different characters fit this description.
* [[Rescue Introduction]]: Branwen, Dynaheir, Viconia, Yeslick and Xan in the first game; Aerie, Cernd, Haer'Dalis, Viconia (again!), Mazzy and arguably Minsc and Jaheira in the sequel.
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** Neb the child-killing dwarf.
** At the final fight in Baldur's Gate I, there is a wizard named Semaj.
* [[Sealed Evil in
* [[Selective Condemnation]]: Even if you play these games in the most pacifistic, [[Lawful Good]] manner possible, you will still end up killing, at minimum, hundreds of people. Despite that, you only succumb to [[The Dark Side]] if you behave evilly towards a few, arbitrarily important characters.
** The first game features a huge example. Despite slaughtering your way across the Sword Coast, leaving large piles of butchered enemies behind you... and, if you so feel like it, being allowed to kill just about anyone else you meet with only a drop in reputation that can be fixed with a temple donation... you are charged with murder and labelled a horrible criminal only ''after'' the deaths of the Iron Throne leaders at Candlekeep. This, of course, even if you barged into their tower earlier in the game in broad daylight and massacred everyone in sight.
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* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Edwin and, with a high enough INT score, potentially the PC.
{{quote| '''CHARNAME:''' Maybe your grandiose vocabulary is a pathetic compensation for an insufficiency in the nether regions of your anatomy.}}
* [[Set a Mook
* [[Sheathe Your Sword]]: Needed in order to defeat {{spoiler|The Beast under Athkathla.}}
* [[Sidekick|Sidekicks]]: Lots to choose from, most of them very memorable.
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*** Zeus transformed himself into the shower to get in the tower where the woman was held, but he didn't impregnate her that way. However, Zeus did impregnated Leda while shapeshifted as a swan. Whether Bhaal's powers were based on Zeus' are debatable, but they are similar.
* [[Short Cuts Make Long Delays]]: When investigating the Cult of the Unseeing Eye, you are told that the easiest way to kill the Unseeing Eye is to reassemble a specific artifact. This involves going to an underground city to get half of it, then through a town of undead, then through a lair of beholders, before you finally get the other half. Alternatively, a well prepared party can complete the quest much more quickly by simply entering the lair and hacking away. But where's the fun in that?
* [[Shout-Out]]: Has its [[Baldur's Gate
* [[Simple Staff]]: The only melee weapon that can be used by anyone. Or you could get the Staff +1, which can do that too.
* [[Single Mom Stripper]]: One prostitute in the docks district says that she's never done it before but needs the money to support her family.
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* [[Slice-and-Dice Swordsmanship]]: Spears and daggers are often used with a slashing animation.
* [[Smug Snake]]: Lots and lots of villains (and a few party members as well).
* [[So Long and Thanks For All
** Even if you kicked them out, if you wait too long to get them to join again they may not have the gear you gave them. At some point after their departure, the game will reset their equipment to the NPC's default.
* [[Somebody Else's Problem]]: Ilmater almighty, but the civilians of this world are a bunch of lazy gits.
** One mod [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] this, by having Imoen muse that it must have been ages since anyone asked the PC how he was feeling, instead of, -->"O, mighty hero, do you have a minute? Of course you do."
* [[Songs in
* [[The Soulless]]: {{spoiler|Irenicus and Bodhi, and later the [[Player Character]] and Imoen.}}
* [[Spoony Bard]]: Player-created bards can actually be quite powerful, if built correctly. Many players find the recruitable NPC bards, on the other hand, somewhat lacking -- Garrick from ''Baldur's Gate'' in particular might be the spooniest bard since the [[Final Fantasy IV
** Garrick lampshades this in ''Baldur's Gate II'' (where he makes a cameo appearance), admitting that he isn't a very good bard.
* [[Squishy Wizard]]: Mostly played straight in the first game. Averted in the sequel where the available range of defensive spells makes the mage into a [[Glacier Waif]], standing calmly in the middle of a furious swordfight as the enemies prove unable to disrupt his lethal incantations.
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* [[Taken for Granite]]: There are a number of NPCs that have been changed to stone by basilisks in BG1. Unfortunately, not all of them can be freed. Although Vail is the only one you are required to free in order to finish a [[Sidequest]], others can be freed to gain experience. The Unfinished Business mod adds in another NPC statue that is also optional to free, but gives experience if you do.
* [[Talking Is a Free Action|Talking About Important Plot Points Is a Free Action]]: Sometimes [[Time Stands Still]] when dialogues happen. Sometimes it doesn't.
* [[Talking the Monster
* [[Talking Weapon]]: Lilarcor.
* [[Talk to Everyone]]: Will actually waste your time. Most people who have something in particular to say will either have names or look out of place.
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* [[True Companions]]: Canonically, the PC, Minsc, Jaheira, and Imoen.
* [[24-Hour Armor]]: They also hold onto their weapons at all times too.
* [[Tyop
** Even worse: I have a copy of that boxset - but Tales of the Sword Coast doesn't work -- it breaks the game instead, forcing a re-installation. That's how low quality it is, the error message says my expansion disk is for the wrong region!
*** There are two very easy fixes for that. 1: Download and install the latest UK patch for [[Tot SC]], or 2: Reset your language setting to British English.
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* [[Vendor Trash]]: TONS of it. Though some things that seem to be vendor trash [[Guide Dang It|will actually be useful later]]. In addition to the obvious junk like jewelry, pretty much any item that was in the first game will be underpowered enough to be glorified vendor trash in the second.
* [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]
* [[Villain
* [[Vocal Evolution]]: Some characters don't sound quite the same in Throne of Bhaal.
* [[Volleying Insults]]: Korgan and Imoen.
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* [[The War Has Just Begun]]: You have just defeated the first game's [[Big Bad]], and the final cutscene {{spoiler|shows his essence descending into the underworld and into a statue of his likeness, which promptly crumbles to dust. Then the camera pans out to show that the statue was standing in an alcove inside an enormous room filled with hundreds of other statues of different people from gnomes to ogres (a few crumbled, but most are intact) showing that Sarevok was just one Bhaalspawn, there are still hundreds of them out there.}}
* [[The War Sequence]]
* [[We Cannot Go
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Good or Neutral-aligned party members will call you out on it if you do something truly dastardly, and eventually leave the party if you become too evil.
* [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him]]: Inverted in the second game -- {{spoiler|when Irenicus captures you in Spellhold, he wants the party disposed of instantly, but [[The Dragon|Bodhi]] overrules him (without his knowledge and consent) and tries to have you executed in a way that will amuse her. Needless to say, it backfires and Irenicus is none too pleased.}}
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* [[Gorn]]
* [[Informed Ability]]: Jaheira is a tough warrior. And a druid. And Abdel Adrian is ''smart''. * snrk*
* [[New Powers
* [[Novelization]]: [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Suddenly Sexuality]]: It turns out Imoen is into chicks. Imoen "realizes her sexuality" when an evil drow matriarch orders her to sleep with her. In order to keep up their drow disguises and continue with their mission, Imoen couldn't refuse, so it makes it seem like Imoen [[Unfortunate Implications|turned a lesbian due to rape and quid-pro-quo]].
* [[Thud and Blunder]]: Even the mysterious very positive reviews at Amazon.com tend to recognise this genre shift.
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