Stronghold concerns

[NocturneN]

I have a question here regarding strongholds; if this has been asked before, then I apologize but I couldn't find any answer for it:

If you have a Stronghold, then lose it, is it then possible (for a multi/dual classed character) to get the other Stronghold? See, I have been planning to create an evil Fighter/Thief, so I figured I could maybe get the de'Arnise Keep while a fighter, then run it into the ground, and then get the Thief stronghold! Is that possible? On my current character I have completed the de'Arnise Keep the goody-two-shoes way, so it would be interesting to see the other side - but I really would rather have the Thief stronghold.

I could also ask; do all the Stronghold questlines play out similarly to the de'Arnise Keep? Honestly I didn't like the Keep very much at all; I got excited when that merchant started talking about bandits (figured I'd get to go and whack them!), but honestly, you never really got to do any fighting at all. Which is ridicilous considering it's the FIGHTER stronghold.. Are all the stronghold quests like that, or is that one particularly dreary?

Which Stronghold did YOU like the most? If you want, feel free to explain alittle about what Stronghold you prefer, and why. Possibly without spoiling anything major aswell, as I've only done the de'Arnise Keep so far. As for me, I figured ruling a Castle would be awesome, but honestly, all you get to do is sit there and decide petty arguments among the farmers...and it took a long time to complete, aswell.

[galraen]

I'm really not sure in the vanilla game as it's so long since I played without mods, but I think multi-classed characters get both, dual classed ones have to complete the first class stronghold quest before dualling'

They all play out differently, the Mages quest doesn't require any action by the PC, but it does involve life and death decision making, with a good reward (especially if you have item upgrade) if you get it right.

My favourite is the Ranger one, a few quests that actually require you to do something and you get a decent reward. Least favourite is the Bard's Tale, boring and pointless; mind you I only did it once over a decade ago, never bothered again due to bad memory of it.

[roller1234]

i like warrior's the most, mage's gets the best reward.

[QuenGalad]

I'm pretty sure the vanilla game limits you to just one stronghold. If you've got two or more classes, you're stuck with whichever you accepted first, I think, and the dialogue options for getting others don't appear. At any rate, that's what happened to my fighter/thief.

My favourites are the Ranger's Cabin (if you have Kivan [mod] in your party, you can ask his advice on the quests!), where the quests are interesting and the reward is awesome, and yes, the Bard's Playhouse. It's actually quite complex and the courses of action to take are not always obvious (so much that there's a detailed walkthrough somewhere online), but the atmosphere of running a theater is right on the spot. On the minus side, you're required to give money for the production and they all act as if it was a matter of huge fortunes, while the sums are between 100 and 2000 gp, so basically tea money for the Child of Bhaal. There are other disadvantages that would be spoilerous to list, but I still like it very much. The reward could be better, though.

I was disappointed by the cleric quests, because I was roleplaying an evil cleric in the church of Talos, and the game's interpretation of that was "slaughter everyone, including your own congregation" while I was more interested in promoting chaos and disobedience of laws. But my least favourite is the thieves' guild, which - after just one mission for us - leaves us supervising thieves, basically on the lines of "and how was the week, my man? oh? good, good, that's good. carry on."

[NocturneN]

Thanks all, good info and advice. I would write a longer reply, but I'm afraid I haven't the time right now - cheers.