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Sorry,

Probably a stupid question for you guys but I have reached Bodhi in the Graveyard district and she has made me an offer and asked me to join her and not the shadow thieves.

I am not sure who to trust and I am scared I make the wrong decision. Should I go with Bodhi or not?

Cheers

It doesn't matter.

Choose away

Don't sweat the decision! There's merits to both and no reputation or alignment issues, so choose & have fun. Remember, both of these outfits are pretty much evil.

Most people do the Shadow Thieves side, but going with the Vampires is sort of fun, too.

Enjoy!

Re: Choose away

Originally posted by nephtu
Don't sweat the decision! There's merits to both and no reputation or alignment issues, so choose & have fun. Remember, both of these outfits are pretty much evil.

Most people do the Shadow Thieves side, but going with the Vampires is sort of fun, too.

Enjoy!

and if you join the vampires you don't have to worry about their level draining capabileties

Really?! For how long?

Do you lose/gain any good items by siding with the vampires over the thieves? I wanna take my evil party through the vamps, but I don't wanna lose anything powerful...

I think it's pretty much a wash - I don't remember if you can loot the amulet of power, but I think you can. There's also a nice bonus axe you get for +Vampire, and you get the Mace of disruption that much earlier.

On the other hand, maybe if you're that worried about missing out on loot, stay Shadow Thieves.

Thanx guys,

This being my first time and my party being good, I think will stay with the thieves for now. Maybe if I play it a second time I will go with the vamps.

Thanx for the help

Cheers

I disagree that they are both evil. Bodhi is pure evil, the thieves for the most part are not. They are outlaws yes, but not really evil. Their Leader (Linvail) is a decent bloke too and if you talk with him you will realize he is a pretty clean guy for a head thief. Siding with the thieves is defintely the good path.

Originally posted by Eriks
I disagree that they are both evil. Bodhi is pure evil, the thieves for the most part are not. They are outlaws yes, but not really evil. Their Leader (Linvail) is a decent bloke too and if you talk with him you will realize he is a pretty clean guy for a head thief. Siding with the thieves is defintely the good path.

I would say that it's rather the neutral path...... since by joining them you are helping a theiving organization...... not a thing a oh so mighty paladin would do..... , I really think that they(bioware) should have made the city council(in Athkatla) aware of the vampires and then you'll get a purely good path instead of having to deal with the shadow theives.......

My 2 gold on this one...

To quote from the BGII manual

"The Shadow Thieves are a wide-ranging guild of thieves, spies and assassins who perform particularly dangerous, evil-aligned and lucrative ventures."

You could reasonably argue, for those who sweat such things, that a Good-aligned party should align with Bodhi initially to wipe out the larger "threat" of the more established shadow thieves before the ultimate showdown with her & her undead minions.

You want to be goody two-shoes, you won't be getting past Chapter 2. Bwa ha ha!

Ahem

Using the theory that joining with the vampires is more "good" in the fact that you get to wipe out the Shadow Theives and then later the vampires doesn't wash. For one any "good" person with an INT over 3 would know Bodhi and her ilk were vampires, and a vampire is way more evil than your common mafiaso or mugger. PLUS the fact you character does not KNOW they will later get the opportunity to wipe out Bodhi later in Chapter 6 or so. The shadow thieves may not be gentlemen but being a theif/mugger/Don doesn't make you inherently evil. Being a vampire does!

Unless of course they have souls....

But thats no the case in this game.....so siding with she Shadow Thieves would be the LESS evil route

Re: Ahem

Originally posted by TheGeoff
...and a vampire is way more evil than your common mafiaso or mugger. PLUS the fact you character does not KNOW they will later get the opportunity to wipe out Bodhi later in Chapter 6 or so. The shadow thieves may not be gentlemen but being a theif/mugger/Don doesn't make you inherently evil. Being a vampire does!

Actually, I don't buy that. Unless you have Evil-O-meter readings to back that up, of course Vampires, once they've become such, have no choice but to prey on the living, yadda yadda yadda. Shadow Thieves choose to be evil every day.

Not that any of this bugs me, since I gave up playing "good" characters twenty years ago.

Also, my character did know they were going to fight the vampires sooner or later, since they're, like, smart 'n' stuff, ya know? So there, neener neener boo boo

*NB - It should be added, for those with less facility in such matters there is a certain element of irony in the above comments*

In Amn, the Shadow Thieves are lead by Linvail, and he doesn't seem like the type that would do anything evil. Bad? Sure, evil? no. They may steal, but he seems to be leading them more into an organization dealing with information more than assasniations.

It may not be a Vampire's fault for feeding, but they are Undead and thus, have no right to feed on the living to unnaturally sustain themselves. Anyway, one does not just "become" a Vampire once they die, something has to happen, usually with the hypothetical dead person's consent. Regardless, you could make that argument about any monster, they are just born into their society and are forced to believe that their way is the right one, much like humans. So yeah, it may not be their fault, and that is why you don't have to hate them, but you cannot let them cause havoc just because they were unfortunate in their upbringing.

Well...

That same argument of "not having a right" applies to the Shadow Thieves. Don't be put off by Linvail's phony charm.

Also, if you read the original vampire myths, consent was ..well..NEVER involved, though of course, that isn't the case here, Bodhi's vampirism is at least semi-voluntary, though we know nothing about the others.

You all realize I'm just responding to annoy you, right?

You all realize this discussion about vampires in popular fiction is getting a bit far afield, right?

talking about vamps in the forgotten realms myself

First of all, you get more treasure if you side with Bodhi, and I think you get a little more experience. That's all that some people need to know. Also, it won't have any adverse effects on your reputation, except in two cases that you can talk your way out of. If you're worried about them, just ask.

Second of all, IMO, it is better from an ethical point of view to side with Bodhi, as long as you believe that the end justifies the means. If you're Lawful Good, forget it. I've made this argument many times before, but here's the gist of it. The Shadow Thieves are evil, period. The vampires are evil, period. If you side with Bodhi, you can kill the Shadow Thieves in Chapter Two and kill the vampires in Chapter Six. In other words, you can destroy both of them if you side with Bodhi. That is clearly the best choice.