Cut Scene and new ability

[Cephaler]

I had a strange dream when resting. The first one and after it said my character learned cure light wounds. What's that all about? I don't see the ability anywhere.

[DarkExcalibur42]

The star on the far right of the lower tool bar. Thats where both special abilities from the plot AND special abilities from classes reside.

[Hopper]

This is from the Baldur's Gate wiki...

Dreams occur when the protagonist and his/her party first sleep, whether in an Inn or in the open, after the start of every Chapter of the storyline.

Reputation affects which abilities the protagonist gains after the dream, they also receive slightly different dreams as well. Player characters with a reputation of 10 and higher, will receive a good dream and a supportive special ability.

For the first two dreams, they gain Cure Light Wounds, with instant casting.
For the third and fourth dream, they gain the special ability Slow Poison.
For the fifth and the final dream, they gain the ability Draw Upon Holy Might

Player characters with a reputation of nine and lower, will receive a bad dream and an offensive special ability.

For the first two dreams, they gain Larloch's Minor Drain.
For the third and fourth dream, they gain the special ability Ghoul Touch.
For the fifth and the final dream, they gain the ability Vampiric Touch.

[Cephaler]

Sweet, thank you. Guess I should have done the tutorial. :) Thanks to you too Gaz. I was wondering if reputation had more to do with the game, than party member leaving and fighting each other.

[Cephaler]

I got a pretty good party going so far. Kalid (my tank), that ranger dude from the hedge, he's great for ranged attacks, Imoen (my pickpocket and lockpick), that cleric chick that was turned to rock, and unfortunatly right now that Xzan bozo as my mage. And me....who's pretty good with the long sword, believe it or not.

[Cephaler]

Hey Dark how would you divide the points between hide in shadows and move silently. I know you said to dump more in move silently, but how much more?

[DarkExcalibur42]

You picked up Kivan? Crap. You have 10 days to finish the Nashkel Mines, find the Bandit Camp, and wipe them out. If you don't, Kivan will leave your party and never return.

Xan's only real weakness is his lack of evocation spells. As a caster, he's pretty solid. If you want a replacement, Neera the Wild Mage is pretty good and you can find her in Beregost. Though you'll risk her spells malfunctioning at a critical moment. If you can handle evil casters, Baeloth or Edwin are amazing.

Doesn't really matter on the Hide / Move Silent debate. Some people say you should put everything in move silent. Ehhh. For me, I was doing 2 to 1.

[Cephaler]

Yeah...but I've only got 5 lvls to pnt in as a thief, so maybe I should just dump it all into move silently.

Don't worry...I can back up...I have critical save points. I just read on Dudley that it is best to get the people you want right off the bat. I'll back up...get Kivan and do his bidding first.

I don't want that wild mage, I heard she'll make your gold go away.

I read Edwin's the best because of his necklace and also give him the ring of wizardry. I suppose when I pick him up I better do what he wants to, right away. I wanna wait on getting him though...later on he'll have higher spell at the ready. Mirror image and something else. The only thing i hate about Xan is his commentary. Makes me want to kill him. :)

[DarkExcalibur42]

Losing gold is only one result of a wild surge, and rare. Having saves before battles prevents this from being a problem. In an entire playthrough I saw the gold effect happen only once.

If you go for evil party members remember to keep your reputation below 18. Another option is to take Imoen Dual-Class to Mage. She rocks it.

[Cephaler]

Yeah, if my reps too high, they will leave. I plan on picking up Dorn when he gets his cross bow and he can do ranged poison attacks. Also, when you get him, you lose 2 in reputation. Maybe I'll pick up that wild mage and get rid of Xan, until Edwin.

I just read up on the bandit camp...sounds rough. I hope I can deal with it at low lvl. Kivan's easy to get in the beginning and he's good with the bow...that's why I got him right off the start.