The Dead Three

[Amran_X_Kaiser]

Having read a bit about The Dead Three the topic interests me so I decided to renew my interest in BG2 by playing with the main characters of that novel in my opinion.

I'm going to be going through BG2 TOB with 3 characters (before they reached god-hood which make the quest for god-hood rather interesting):

(1) Bane the Tyrant
(2) Bhaal the Assassin
(3) Myrkul the Necromancer

I'd like your opinions on character specifications: stat rolls, class, proficiencies etc.

I am conflicted as to whether or not to make Bhaal a Fighter/Assassin given how skilled he was with a sword when you meet in the dream world or what kind of stats am I suppose to give to a tyrant ? Cleric ? Fighter/Cleric ? Evil Monk ?- certain aspects like this (though may appear trivial are important to me) - i'd like this to be resolved.

Thanks for your posts.

[NeoTiamat]

Well, let's see. some basic assumptions. (Note, this is all from memory)

First off, these are all super-epic characters who had enough power to challenge Jergal, who if my memory serves, was an incredibly powerful deity. Thus, they would all have excellent stats, so you'll probably be rolling to get the totals up towards 85.

These are the ideal numbers for stats

Secondly, they are a;; fairly intelligent. While only Myrkul was a amge, the other two are pretty clearly smart. So their intelligence can't be very low. I personally would put it towards 12 for Bane and 14 for Bhaal, judging by their actions. Maybe sixteen for Bhaal. Myrkul gets 18 Int, obviously.

On the other hand, neither Myrkul nor Bhaal were notably personably. Bane is the god of tyranny, and his clerics have a bonus to intimidation, so he should probably have fairly good charisma (18), while Bhaal and Myrkul rather mediocre charisma. (8)

The three of them tried to challenge the god of death. Though they were successful, that strikes me as not being the most wise course of action. On the other hand, none of them were notable foolish, so wisdom should probably be average for all of them, 10 or 12. Myrkul may be higher since he was a necromancer with knowledge of life and death.

Physical stats are less noteworthy. Bhaal was an assassin, so he'd probably have 18 dex. Bane was a warrior, so I'm thinking he'd have excellent strength and pretty good con. Myrkul was a necromancer, and they're not known for their physique.

Taking out a calculator, assuming the mental scores above and 84 points to work with, the stats are like this:

Bane: Str 18, Dex 8, Con 18, Wis 10, Int 12, Cha 18,

Bhaal; Str 18, Dex 18, Con 16, Wis 10, Int 14, Cha 8

Myrkul: Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Wis 18, Int 18, Cha 8

Looks pretty good. If you roll points higher then 84, (I don't know if you can), toss them into Con or Dex. Also, this is completely ignoring items in the game. Thus, if you want to use the Ring of Human Influence for Bane's Cha, then feel free to dump his cha and put it into Dex.
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Now, for classes.

Bane is a tyrant, and a fairly martial god. He also seems to be rather secular, in so far as a good is. Thus, I'd peg him as some sort of general figure, a fighter of some kind, or an anti-paladin. His portfolio is one of hatred, strife, and tyranny. I would make him a Fighter, a pure one seems to fit him best, since he was neither a berserker (too calm and collected), a wizardslayer (worked with Myrkul after all), or a Kensai (not oriental, and seems to have used armor.) Alternativly, a Fighter/Cleric would work, since you DO need a cleric, although theres no mention of Bane being particularly religious. He's a knight type basically. You may want to look into some mod kits, especially evil paladin kits. That would be perfect. Also, his favored weapon is the Morning Star, so you may want to equip him with the Flail of Ages at some point.

Bhaal is an assassin, that much is clear, so he has to be some kind of rogue. An Assassin would fit his name, but he also seems to be a swordsman of some renown, so my money would be on a Kensai/Thief multiclass. Seems to fit him nicely.

Myrkul is easier to peg still. He's a necromancer. Take a wizard with a specialization in Necromancy. End of story.
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I'd ramble on more, but I have to go, so I'll let you chew on this for the moment. Last word of advice, check Wikipedia to see what their portfolios, favored weapons, and general personality was like, it will help you decide what to do with them.

[Amran_X_Kaiser]

Reply

Alot of good information that I will take under serious consideration NeoTiamat.

http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/faerun ... ne3rd.html

It seems that Bane as alot of Clerical abilities, more-so it appears than fighting - although not having read the book yet if anyone knows whether Bane does use clerical powers before transcending (since this is going to be a quest for godhood) would be helpful.

Kensai/Thief seems a bit cheesy in BG2 terms, a basic F/Thief will do me at the most I think given that Bane is going to be the grunt of the group - but whether or not Bhaal used armor in his quest is unknown to me.

Favoured weapons hasn't come up yet despite looking on the net closely so any pointers would be appreciated.

[Nimiety]

[QUOTE=Amran_X_Kaiser]Favoured weapons hasn't come up yet despite looking on the net closely so any pointers would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Personally, I think this is a nifty topic.

I looked and found one site - http://www.davidcwood.com/adnd/campaign ... k_hand.php and I was able to find a little bit of info on weapons:

Bhaal (LE) favors the kukri (an indian or nepalese angled knife, with blades usually 12-15 inches in length) - so, it looks like daggers.

Myrkul (NE) favors the scythe - so here you have halberds.

Bane (LE) favors the morningstar - maybe flails and maces, too?

Hope this helps!
N...

[Amran_X_Kaiser]

Reply

Sure does and thanks.

Having read a bit about Myrkul I found out that he also used a skull-staff which he discarded upon ascension so its nice to see him being multi-skilled lol

Bhaal might have a go at some scimitars and dagger combo - woah. Or single for a nice clean backstab effect.

While not knowing whether or not to dual-wield Bane, just wait to see what happens when comparing them at lower/higher levels based on their benefits.

Is there an actual book about this story though ?

[NeoTiamat]

There is. Go into the Gamebanshee sections for BGII "Books of Lore" And look through for the Dead Three. It only covers their actual ascendance though, and tells very little about them themselves.

Somehow, I think Bane should be a Sword and Shield person. There's no reference to him dual wielding, and I'm fairly sure I've seen shields enchanted by Banite Clerics, both in BGII and in NWN. Plus, the Morning Star is a single handed weapon.

Myrkul is a mage. In the end, it doesn't really matter what he uses. Staves are the classical mage weapon, while Scythes are more intuned to Death. Seeing as I don't think you can get scythes as a mage unless you multiclass, just give him a good staff and be done with it.

Bhaal uses Kukris, which are essentially slashing daggers. Thus, either give him daggers, scimitars, or both. Seeing as their are excellent daggers and excellent scimitars in the game, dualwielding them sounds good.
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In terms of gameplay, this works out rather nicely. Bane with his shield and hopefully excellent hitpoints is your main tank. Bhaal covers all the thievery, and since I strongly suggest you multiclass him to a fighter (if not a Kensai), can act as a subsidiary tank and light melee. (I personally don't think you need a single class thief, especially with only three characters, and Bhaals class levels are ambiguous enough as it is). Myrkul as a pure mage will be extremely powerful. and Create Undead will seriously help with the tanking come level 15.

The only thing you lack is a cleric, and there are two way around it.
One, make Bane a Fighter/Cleric of some sort. It's fairly close to a blackguard, and you can still tank nicely. Getting the stats for decent wisdom to allow you to spellcast as well will be a pain, I forget how vital wisdom is to divine spellcasting in AD&D. Look it up in DSimpsons AD&D Faq on Gamefaqs. If you can pull it off, the defensive spells from being a cleric, (Ironskin, Shield of Archons, Armor of Faith), will go a good way towards making up for the lessened weakness compared to a pure fighter.

Alternatively, buy every Rod of ressurection you can, (Ideally, have three of them, but at least give one to Bane and Myrkul), and buy loads of potions and several copies of all the priest scrolls. It may be a good idea to buy a Scroll Case and just fill it up with Restoration and Cure Disease scrolls. Later, when Myrkul gets the Summon Fallen Planetar HLA, you can use that to cover you're clericing needs. this will let you keep Bane as a pure fighter and tank.

[Amran_X_Kaiser]

Reply

I'll try one group single class and another dual-classing for the fun of it.