BG - Special Abilities

index

Special Abilities

Find Traps

　Thieves can select the find traps mode, and they will continually look around for traps. The traps have a random chance of being found by the thief at any time, so moving slowly can make finding more likely. If a thief chooses any other action, he is unable to find traps until this mode is reselected.

Detecting Secret Doors

　Each character has their secret door detection ability on at all times. Their chances are calculated using the following:

• Mage: 5%
• Thief: 15%
• Fighter: 10%
• Cleric: 10%

　Depending on Race, they also get a bonus:

• Elf: 20%
• Dwarf: 10%
• Halfling: 5%

　When a thief has his find traps ability on, he has a 100% chance to detect secret doors.

Druidic Shape Change

　At higher levels druids can change their shape into three different animals, each once per day. They can choose to transform into either a brown bear, black bear, or wolf. The animals will perhaps have more hit points, faster movement rates, or claw and bite attacks that are quite damaging. These
can come in quite handy in combat situations.

Racial Enemy

　Rangers tend to focus their efforts against one particular type of creature. When the ranger encounters that enemy, he gains a +4 bonus to his attack rolls. However, the Ranger suffers a -4 penalty to all encounter reactions with these creatures as well.

Hit Dice

　As characters go up levels, their number of hit points increase based on their Hit Dice. Each class has a different hit die which reflects their ability to avoid damage in combat. For example, fighters have a d10, which indicates that they gain between 1 and 10 hit points when going up a level. A mage, on the other hand, being a poor fighter, gains only 1 to 4 hit points when going up a level. The number of Hit Dice each class receives is shown on pg 139.

Identify Items

　Whenever you R-click on an item, the lore skill of your character is compared to the lore value of the item under consideration. If the lore skill is high enough, you successfully identify the item so that you can see what it does. If you cannot identify an item with any of your characters you can always cast the Identify item or take the item to a store or temple and have it identified (for a price!).

Infravision

　Infravision allows you to see more clearly in the dark by revealing the heat generated by bodies. All warm blooded creatures appear as red shapes if they are in the dark, at night. Undead or cold blooded creatures are not affected by this spell or ability. Elves, half-elves, gnomes, and dwarves use this ability automatically at night or in dark conditions. Mages can cast it as a spell.

Lay Hands

　A paladin can heal himself or others by laying his hands upon them. A paladin can heal 2 hit points per experience level in this manner. This ability is usable once per day.

Lore

　Each character has a lore rating. Every item has a lore value. If a character’s lore rating is equivalent or higher than an items lore value, then he may identify that item. As characters gain levels, they are able to identify items based on their experience. This is listed in the table below:

• Bard: 10 lore rating per level.
• Thief: 3 lore rating per level.
• Mage: 3 lore rating per level.
• All other classes: 1 lore rating per level.

The player receives bonuses and penalties to their lore based on their Intelligence and Wisdom. The modifier is not cumulative with each level, but each ability bonus is applied separately. It is a one time bonus at character creation. See the tables on page 136 for ability bonuses and modifiers. (E.g. A character with 18 Wisdom (+10) and 15 Intelligence (+5) would have +15 to Lore.)

Magic Resistance

　Magic resistance enables a creature to ignore the effects of spells and spell-like powers. If a creature fails to avoid a spell due to magic resistance, he or she can still make a saving throw against that spell to avoid the effects.

Protection from Evil

　Paladins have an innate ability to provide protection from the forces of evil. They can use this ability at will through the Special Abilities button. The effect is identical to the 1st-level wizard spell Protection from Evil.

Specialization

　Fighters, paladins, and rangers can train and hone their weapons skills to higher levels than other classes. This is accomplished by assigning more proficiencies to a single weapon. The effects of specialization are shown below:

Level of Proficiency	Points Spent	Bonus To Hit	Bonus Damage	Attacks per Round**
Proficient	1	0	0	1
Specialized*	2	+1	+2	3/2
Master	3	+3	+3	3/2
High Master	4	+3	+4	3/2
Grand Master	5	+3	+5	2

　*Note that paladins and rangers cannot hone their weapon skills beyond “specialized.”
　**Note that this refers to attacks with melee weapons only, and that Fighters, Rangers, and Paladins also gain an extra attack at level 7.

Spell Casting

　See Magic and the Spell System in Baldur’s Gate on pg 95.

Stealth (Hide in Shadows/Move Silently) and Backstab

　Thieves can choose to enter the stealth mode – effectively becoming invisible for a time – by selecting the stealth mode. Once invisible, their next attack is a backstab for either 2x, 3x, or 4x damage – depending on the level of the thief. Moving around risks detection. As well, once a thief attacks the stealth mode is ended until successfully reselected. The thief must be out of his enemy’s direct line of sight before he can hide once more.

Thieving (Pick Pockets, Open Locks, Remove Traps)

　Thieves can pick pockets (random chance of an item carried by the hapless victim), pick locks, and remove traps as well. This is achieved by selecting the thieving button and clicking on the target.

Turning Undead

　One important, and potentially life-saving, combat ability available to priests and paladins is the ability to turn undead. Druids cannot turn undead. Through the priest or paladin, the deity manifests a portion of its power, terrifying evil, undead creatures or blasting them right out of existence. However, since the power must be channeled through a mortal vessel, success is not always assured. This ability is a mode selection for that character – nothing else can be attempted while he or she is attempting to turn undead. Good priests and paladins can turn undead so they lose morale and run away, or (less often) destroy them outright. Evil priests can sometimes gain control of undead, who can then perform actions for the priest.