// API callback
related_results_labels_thumbs({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-09-29T05:23:37.255-06:00"},"category":[{"term":"Baldur's Gate"},{"term":"Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition"},{"term":"NWN:EE"},{"term":"Baldur's Gate II"},{"term":"Icewind Dale"},{"term":"patch"},{"term":"Beamdog"},{"term":"Livestream"},{"term":"Update"},{"term":"Siege of Dragonspear"},{"term":"news"},{"term":"Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition"},{"term":"Dungeons \u0026 Dragons"},{"term":"Android"},{"term":"Beta Test"},{"term":"Steam"},{"term":"Enhanced Edition"},{"term":"The Familiar"},{"term":"Contest"},{"term":"Interview"},{"term":"PST:EE"},{"term":"Beamdog Client"},{"term":"Streamdog"},{"term":"Launch"},{"term":"Convention"},{"term":"GOG"},{"term":"Planescape: Torment"},{"term":"iOS"},{"term":"team"},{"term":"Adventure Y"},{"term":"Art"},{"term":"Darkness Over Daggerford"},{"term":"Head Start"},{"term":"Infinity Engine"},{"term":"Axis \u0026 Allies Online"},{"term":"Chris Avellone"},{"term":"Fan Art"},{"term":"Google Play"},{"term":"Character"},{"term":"Characters"},{"term":"Console"},{"term":"Screenshot"},{"term":"Skybound"},{"term":"Soundtrack"},{"term":"Waffle Crew"},{"term":"Easter Eggs"},{"term":"Ossian"},{"term":"Steam Early Access"},{"term":"User Interface"},{"term":"dlc"},{"term":"hiring"},{"term":"office"},{"term":"Announcement"},{"term":"Companions"},{"term":"Dragon+"},{"term":"Edmonton Expo"},{"term":"How To"},{"term":"Mod"},{"term":"Mods"},{"term":"OST"},{"term":"copy"},{"term":"disc"},{"term":"disk"},{"term":"jobs"},{"term":"physical"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Beamblog"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"Beamblog by Beamdog - Great games, enhanced!"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/-\/The+Familiar?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=6"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/search\/label\/The%20Familiar"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/-\/The+Familiar\/-\/The+Familiar?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=7\u0026max-results=6"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"14"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"6"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-8451229124282319700"},"published":{"$t":"2018-08-06T11:43:00.000-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2018-08-06T11:43:18.113-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Beamdog"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Siege of Dragonspear"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Art of Dragonspear"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/4o\/5tt90l2cdbgw.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"600\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/4o\/5tt90l2cdbgw.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f533-6bf8-ecf9-77c4b687ffbe\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis is the first time Dragonspear Castle has ever been seen in a video game.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis article was originally published in Issue 2 of the Familiar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESiege of Dragonspear is now available on \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.beamdog.siegeofdragonspear\"\u003EGoogle Play\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 33.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/siege-of-dragonspear\/id1298734617\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 33.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Ethe App Store\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 1.8; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EToday we’re publishing an interview with our creative team about Siege of Dragonspear: transforming a barren, 2D map into a living, breathing castle, the development of gnomish character Glint, and bringing a fan’s characters to life.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFor a place with such a rich history, the structure of Dragonspear Castle has been very badly documented. Yet it’s hard to blame the scholars at Candlekeep for dropping the ball on this one. The job of plotting rooms and tunnels on a scale map isn’t made any easier by the bandit hordes rampaging through the castle or a portal to another plane that spits out devilish baatezu.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/9q\/jbmp1vehli61.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"619\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"494\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/9q\/jbmp1vehli61.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f539-6f1d-ef8b-3cb025d392dd\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“I believe this is the first time Dragonspear Castle has ever been seen in a video game. Prior to this, there was one little top-down map of the castle, which we’ve used for inspiration,” says Trent Oster. “We also dug through all of the past of Dragonspear and all of the lore surrounding it, and the more we read, the more excited we got.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EAs the scale of the project grew, from a small piece of DLC to a major video game expansion, so did the team working on it. Oster believes the Siege of Dragonspear crew created the largest amount of art for any Baldur’s Gate video game. “We originally started out with this idea that we’d only make a few areas. But the team kept going and going and the last total I heard was 76 all new areas, so we’re substantially larger than Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal,” he says proudly.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vs\/6l1sw3txb3t7.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"518\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vs\/6l1sw3txb3t7.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53a-b91e-f2ca-fe6c1aff9afe\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“Everything we do starts with the story,” adds Beamdog’s Art Coordinator Jonathan Hill, who says the original map from second edition D\u0026amp;D had to evolve to match the scope of the adventure. “The initial thought was that Dragonspear Castle would be a portal to the other levels inside the castle itself. Over the course of our development on Siege of Dragonspear, we realized that this would include a larger battle than has ever been done in any of the Infinity Engine games. We almost pull the camera back to reveal a greater area and have the castle be a backdrop to that battle.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/x0\/rf6ybwyzwusk.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"594\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"474\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/x0\/rf6ybwyzwusk.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53b-1dcc-d392-93a4eee137ea\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EPrepping for such a big conflict forced the team to expand the castle’s areas to accommodate a lot more units on screen. The battle takes place in the courtyard and, as the game’s title suggests, includes the building of an army and a siege situation. “The great thing about Siege of Dragonspear in general is that no-one’s ever really seen a Baldur’s Gate game full screen. You normally only have that little bit of an area around you,” says Hill, although he’s keen to stress that the traditional Baldur’s Gate focus on discovery hasn’t been lost, with plenty of NPCs to interact with during that exploration. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“We’re going to an iconic location in Faerûn and it’s important that the player can walk around and reveal it. As the story started to evolve, we had to think, ‘where are we going to meet that NPC? How are we going to engage them?’ We needed to have enough space between each character so there was travel distance and everyone wasn’t all packed into one spot.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/4o\/5tt90l2cdbgw.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"600\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/4o\/5tt90l2cdbgw.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53b-7b22-6032-d2476ebd15b6\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWorld Building\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIn a breakdown of the development process, Hill reveals that everything begins with writers pitching an idea for an area of the castle. From there, a concept artist goes to work and fills in the details. This concept art is sometimes placed into the game as soon as it has been created, so the programmers can start to set up those scenarios.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“The 3D artists build what we refer to as a grey box model, which is just rough polygons. So, for instance, when the stone wall around the castle went in, it was just a flat wall and the castle itself was just a box. Once it’s in game, we have the chance to walk around and get an idea of the scale and we can start to refine the design from there,” Hill says.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“So if the hallways are too close together, we can spread them out or knock down a wall so that we can see more of the floor. Otherwise what ends up happening is we may have five or six party members going down a hallway and then getting into a crowded fight. The core idea is that the design has to support gameplay.” \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETweaking the design of the original 2D map to fit the video game wasn’t the only change that was needed. To truly live up to the name Dragonspear Castle, the location also needed an iconic piece of decoration to top it off (although the skeleton that straddles the building is from a red dragon which attacked the castle, not Daeros Dragonspear’s original steed). Yet even that design saw changes, as it moved from the initial concept art to the final in-game image. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“Because it’s a red dragon, it’s a D\u0026amp;D canon red dragon. Wizards of the Coast provided us with reference material and we had to make sure that the skull matched that, rather than being a generic fantasy dragon. In the initial sketch we didn’t quite have the horns right and now the skull is thinner and the horns are much longer. At that point we found ourselves getting into the forensic anthropology of dragons,” says Hill.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/8f\/9pyflngojgom.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"667\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/8f\/9pyflngojgom.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53b-f164-338c-5d58fe4a3ca6\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis is an \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eancient Red Dragon from the D\u0026amp;D Monster Manual.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53c-1c0b-e024-3abcf13be34c\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ECharacter Building\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EVideo games are like any form of entertainment and an actor’s performance can have a major influence on how the audience responds to a character. For Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear that was true even when the audience was still restricted to the art team. The design for gnomish character Glint Gardnersonson underwent a major revision following some sterling work by voice actor Jacob Burgess. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Name Of The Beasts\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“I've been telling my five and six-year-old boys the story of Baldur's Gate as a bedtime story,” says fan Pontus Perstrand. “I've played the game so many times that I remember the beginning by heart. Of course there is a lot of fighting, which could get pretty repetitive, but I’ve reduced the number of battles to keep things interesting. That way they can focus on imagining what the monsters look like and what hardships the characters face during the fights.” \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/baldursgate\/comments\/3nw8ic\/ive_been_telling_my_six_and_five_year_old_boys\/\"\u003EOn Reddit\u003C\/a\u003E, Perstrand posted:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E “When I got home from work, my six-year-old son Assar showed me this.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/b2\/951xdthnv42k.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"521\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/b2\/951xdthnv42k.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53f-fa24-534f-3e64c49f7880\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIn honor of this piece of artistic inspiration, we had the idea of naming two monsters in Siege of Dragonspear Kämbälder and Gnäler. As you can see below, that’s just what happened!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/t2\/9bwbaah1v5mi.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"525\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/t2\/9bwbaah1v5mi.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53d-bd7b-c3c1-b000d884b325\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ENow Assar and Egon (the children of Perstrand) will find out their father has brought something to the Baldur’s Gate world!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-4234eb71-f53d-dad4-c6db-d803e160807f\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EStay tuned, we’re excited to share more materials from the Familiar in upcoming weeks! Share your impressions \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Beamdog\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeamdogInc\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E, and in\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eour forums\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E and tell us about your favorite moments of Siege of Dragonspear.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/8451229124282319700\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/08\/the-art-of-dragonspear.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/8451229124282319700"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/8451229124282319700"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/08\/the-art-of-dragonspear.html","title":"The Art of Dragonspear"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-7121730066896378705"},"published":{"$t":"2018-07-23T07:18:00.000-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2018-07-23T07:18:59.292-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Beamdog"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Siege of Dragonspear"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Tom Rhodes: An Inside into the Artist's World"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/x3\/v4bc7d9p6uej.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"546\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/x3\/v4bc7d9p6uej.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-326b1d49-5bdc-58bc-f4c6-5e1686602a31\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBeamdog Artist Tom Rhodes explains how his sketchpad reflects the seasons.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIn 2016 we tried an experiment to bring the magic we saw in our community to a broader audience called the Familiar, a digital publication with industry interviews, fiction, contests, and Beamdog exclusives.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIt’s a pity to let those articles vanish to time, so we’ve decided to share the materials from the Familiar on the Beamblog so more people can discover them. Today we publish an interview with Tom Rhodes.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis article was originally published in Issue 2 of the Familiar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETom Rhodes has developed an interesting new form of calendar. He loves to draw whenever he can and tends to switch between his two favorite subjects: fantasy and science fiction. The diary element comes into play by how he breaks those up.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-vbSAWrLdc50\/Wd-y9D3jALI\/AAAAAAAAAR4\/V4ROKjNd_qggmAm1rRC9nIRqc7dAUe9rgCLcBGAs\/s1600\/tom-rhodes-patrin-final.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-vbSAWrLdc50\/Wd-y9D3jALI\/AAAAAAAAAR4\/V4ROKjNd_qggmAm1rRC9nIRqc7dAUe9rgCLcBGAs\/s640\/tom-rhodes-patrin-final.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“Usually in the winter I’ll be really into fantasy, and then in the summer I’ll get into sci-fi. So I can always tell what season it was when I look at my sketch books by what I was drawing—whether it was orcs or aliens,” he tells \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Familiar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThat love of fantasy has always been a big part of his life—and his work—since he first read \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Hobbit\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E as a child. That led to an obsession with \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Lord of the Rings\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E artwork created by John Howe and Alan Lee, as he pored over their book cover and calendars.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/kr\/kxijlraw8d7k.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"618\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/kr\/kxijlraw8d7k.jpg\" width=\"492\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-326b1d49-5bdd-99a7-aab7-08a6d6c20481\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“I would walk a few kilometers to the book store where they were selling the 1998\/1999 Tolkien calendar, look at the pictures on the back, and then walk home,” he reminisces. “D\u0026amp;D is cool too, but I didn’t play it until I was in high school. It was Tolkien and those two artists that always kept me around fantasy, along with movies and videogames.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBefore moving to Beamdog, Rhodes worked as a concept artist at BioWare and taught illustration at the Edmonton Digital Arts College (EDAC).\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/o4\/ujm9nqpsux13.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/o4\/ujm9nqpsux13.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-326b1d49-5bde-12c0-83d5-725c31898da5\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWas the cover commissioned specially for this issue or is it already part of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESiege of Dragonspear\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIt was something I was working on in-house at Beamdog. It was a larger project overall and we thought it’d be perfect for the cover of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Familiar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EAre the two battling figures specific characters from \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESiege of Dragonspear\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThey’re not any particular individuals but they are representatives of the factions from within the game. The guy with the boar spear is one of the crusaders and the guy with the two blades is a member of the Flaming Fists. They may not be named characters but the Flaming Fist character is based on the actual in-game sprite. I reverse engineered it from the tiny little guy, based on his armor.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWhat's your working process like?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EI work digitally. Sometimes I sketch on paper first and then scan it, but this work was all digital. It always starts with a written description of what’s needed and any other aspects, like bits of lore or technical requirements like dimensions or color scheme. I then create thumbnail sketches to try and find out what the posing and composition is going to be like. From there I start putting in the color.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/yj\/b9bvf4gi2zgx.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"552\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/yj\/b9bvf4gi2zgx.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-326b1d49-5bde-86ed-794e-480892580700\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EHow long did the completed work take?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis image took about four days. Usually by the end of the first day you get a really solid idea of what it’s going to be like. On the second day it looks finished, but the rest of the time is spent making sure that it’s polished. The last 20% takes 80% of the time. Most of that time is spent on the rendering and making sure things are presentable. It’s taking the time to put extra careful brush strokes to make sure that surfaces aren’t too messy and that they also look like the material they’re supposed to be.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-p72Vxo252G4\/Wd-zMxYzH9I\/AAAAAAAAAR8\/e3zU4wDIjAYmffZdkIUh6DIpeEGOtKtqQCLcBGAs\/s1600\/tom-rhodes-durul.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-p72Vxo252G4\/Wd-zMxYzH9I\/AAAAAAAAAR8\/e3zU4wDIjAYmffZdkIUh6DIpeEGOtKtqQCLcBGAs\/s640\/tom-rhodes-durul.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIs digital your favorite format or would you like to have the time to paint?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIt’s a toss up between digital art and a ballpoint pen and a sketchpad. I recently got back into doing acrylic painting at home but I haven’t had too much time to work on that in the last few months. It’s relaxing, though.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EHas digital been the norm since you started your career? \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EI had my first job in about 2005. But I started to get into digital art around 1997\/1998. I was still quite young but I feel like a lot of things people think of as concept art, things like ArtStation and DeviantArt, I grew up alongside those. When I first started off, most concept art was still done with marker and paint, at least the stuff I was looking at.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/zi\/1wjrobzzxk3w.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"618\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/zi\/1wjrobzzxk3w.jpg\" width=\"494\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-326b1d49-5bdf-4bd6-79e0-0e3dae92f790\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWhat did you teach at EDAC?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EI was teaching illustration and digital illustration and sequential art—so comics, graphic novels, Photoshop, painting. I was running students through the fundamentals of art as best as I could. Things like anatomy, perspective, composition, color theory—all the good stuff.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBased on the art we’ve\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/tomrhodes.ca\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eseen online\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E you love to draw. Is it something you do as an everyday thing even outside of work?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EI like to draw on the bus, I like to draw on my lunchbreak. Even sometimes when I’m at Beamdog I’ll be working on a piece but then I’ll just have to draw something for myself. Just take a quick minute and doodle. It’s something I’ve always done. I guess it’s a good psychological break. Some people will go have a coffee, I’ll open up a new document and draw an orc head or something.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-3PltPJ0f_Ng\/Wd-zT_EDeZI\/AAAAAAAAASA\/JJTn9LQ3NkU7h94--XMjemavjTG3mFhMgCLcBGAs\/s1600\/tom-rhodes-arywen.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-3PltPJ0f_Ng\/Wd-zT_EDeZI\/AAAAAAAAASA\/JJTn9LQ3NkU7h94--XMjemavjTG3mFhMgCLcBGAs\/s640\/tom-rhodes-arywen.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EYou helped create the comic \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EDeep Soul\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E. How did that differ to your work on video games?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThat was with a writer named A.J. Lieberman, who works out of New York. He’s worked for DC and a bunch of comic companies on quite a few graphic novels over the years. One of his books, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETerm Life\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E, is coming out as a movie this year. He was really good to work with, although that project took a year. I’ve not done a graphic novel before and that project made me think I might not do one again. [Laughs] But I’m working on another on the side here and there. It’s a fairy tale I’m writing and illustrating, which tries to figure out what would happen if a robot crash landed in a fairy tale kingdom.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EYou also run a weekly lottery on your\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rndfantasy\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETwitter feed\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eto draw people’s D\u0026amp;D characters. How did that come about?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThat’s actually really good fun. It came out of nowhere and gives me something to do, so now I have a hobby and I don’t just sit there reading Reddit all night. It’s also helping me get better and to build a portfolio—not that I need it, but it is nice to have a body of work. People also get to know me and my name gets out there a little bit. But my favorite part is giving people free art and I’m always pleased by how excited they get.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/7121730066896378705\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/07\/tom-rhodes-inside-into-artists-world.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/7121730066896378705"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/7121730066896378705"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/07\/tom-rhodes-inside-into-artists-world.html","title":"Tom Rhodes: An Inside into the Artist's World"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-vbSAWrLdc50\/Wd-y9D3jALI\/AAAAAAAAAR4\/V4ROKjNd_qggmAm1rRC9nIRqc7dAUe9rgCLcBGAs\/s72-c\/tom-rhodes-patrin-final.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-7051388894342188637"},"published":{"$t":"2018-04-05T14:42:00.000-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2018-04-05T14:42:53.381-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Beamdog"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Siege of Dragonspear"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Making of Siege of Dragonspear"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-bHefREfCUHY\/WsZWE5yCGcI\/AAAAAAAAA5o\/8SPUkZrhtT089_AL1H0QfByzZODwSC8zQCK4BGAYYCw\/s1600\/SoD-FacebookBanner%2B%25281%2529.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-bHefREfCUHY\/WsZWE5yCGcI\/AAAAAAAAA5o\/8SPUkZrhtT089_AL1H0QfByzZODwSC8zQCK4BGAYYCw\/s640\/SoD-FacebookBanner%2B%25281%2529.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis article by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EDaniel Griliopoulos\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E was originally published as part of Issue 2 of The Familiar. We're republishing the article now that phone and tablet players can experience the exciting story of Siege of Dragonspear\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESiege of Dragonspear is now available on \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.beamdog.siegeofdragonspear\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EGoogle Play\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/siege-of-dragonspear\/id1298734617\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Ethe App Store\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESiege of Dragonspear started as a concept more than six years ago, when Trent Oster began acquiring the rights to Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, with the first programmers starting work on the project from April 28, 2011. “It was actually straightforward to get permission for more Baldur's Gate content once we had cleared up all the legal issues around the Enhanced Editions,” remembers Phillip Daigle, Siege of Dragonspear Producer and Lead Writer. “The fine folks at Wizards of the Coast were very enthusiastic about the idea once they saw how invested we were in Baldur's Gate and the Forgotten Realms.” \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: left; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/bx\/k79hyofi89mb.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"473\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/bx\/k79hyofi89mb.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-3fddc7a6-f543-618d-5a12-e74ea52ecd63\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot; , \u0026quot;times new roman\u0026quot; , serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EHaving brought two Baldur’s Gate video games to modern audiences, Beamdog in 2016 turned its attention to an all-new tale that sits between the iconic titles.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EDespite Beamdog’s enthusiasm for new Baldur’s Gate content, the team didn’t immediately start work on the project. “We began discussing Dragonspear in late 2011, although at the time we were still calling it ‘ BG1.5’,” says Daigle. “Our initial idea was for an expansion that bridged the gap between the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II – it would be a fairly simple two to three-hour adventure that primarily used existing artwork. As we worked on the additional content for those two games, we kept fiddling with the BG1.5 concept, and we had John Gallagher [lead artist on the original Baldur's Gate] do some early concept art for us.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/ca\/4drbdw507i94.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"415\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"332\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/ca\/4drbdw507i94.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-3fddc7a6-f544-142d-1bed-a0d7eef9db5b\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EA cloud-based file repository allowed the artists to share area maps and concept art with the team, while story design began in Google Docs.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"line-height: 1.8;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EDaigle also took the opportunity to bring some previously unused Baldur’s Gate material back to life: “The original Baldur's Gate had a canceled second expansion pack after Tales of the Sword Coast. This was supposed to involve a sinister individual who is trapped in stone, but can reach into the world to influence events. The sages of Candlekeep were to send the party on a quest to retrieve the stone. We took some of these concepts and modified them for use in Siege of Dragonspear.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"line-height: 1.8;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAn Ancient Code\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/gc\/roez8r2ybvex.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"541\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/gc\/roez8r2ybvex.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f544-c630-3de2-6ffaf089583f\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESketch of the Temple of Cyric.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f54c-e5e3-21fd-cf20b3f5bd4c\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWhile the ideas and concept art piled up, the technical team was faced with the challenge of building an entirely new game based on Baldur’s Gate’s Infinity Engine software. As Beamdog’s CTO Scott Brooks explains, that wasn’t easy, to say the least. “We started with the source code for Baldur's Gate II, which had networking support for serial connections, dial up modems, and IPX networking. It had piles of code to support CD swapping, and had the minimum system requirements of a Pentium 166 with 16MB of Ram. There were lots of things the engine was doing that it didn't need to do any more, and all of that code would get in the way of trying to make progress.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBrooks spent a lot of time digging into that code to find out what it actually did. Building a version for today’s 64-bit Apple platforms is also a challenge for a 20-year-old, 16-bit engine that was created using assembly code. Even the tools and resources to work with the Infinity Engine are horribly ancient, dating back to the mid-’90s. “We upgrade them where we can,” says Daigle, “but it can still be a real bear to work with such old tools. I'm fairly certain we have a couple of applications that were written in Delphi back in 1996, and if anyone is a programmer, that tidbit will probably spook them.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/ov\/zl96o8y3gku5.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"600\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/ov\/zl96o8y3gku5.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/pe\/uggzo0z24fcd.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"600\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/pe\/uggzo0z24fcd.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f545-9629-25bf-7bcf92f5df12\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFinal Renders of the Temple of Cyric.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f545-c6bf-5a46-6fe8e59cc273\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f545-c6bf-5a46-6fe8e59cc273\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003EAn unexpected problem was how to keep consistency with the two other Baldur’s Gate games, which are literally from another generation. “It's a real challenge to build new content that looks good, but also looks ‘old’ so that it fits in with the existing content. It's an interesting and very fine line to walk, and it's a challenge that I imagine most teams don't have to face,” Daigle adds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EEven when they got the engine working, the team still had to decide what to put in, with help from Wizards of the Coast. “As fans of the series, we've always had a lot of wants and wishes for stuff the player could do, and so we had a few ideas that we had been sitting on for over a decade,” says Daigle. “Also, years ago, before Throne of Bhaal was released, the folks at BioWare had put together a list of the most-requested features or scenarios that fans wanted to see in a future Infinity Engine game. They managed to check off a couple of those requests in Throne of Bhaal, and we checked off a bunch more of them with Siege of Dragonspear.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThe Plot Thickens\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/e5\/kx0sy9dguahe.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"779\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"622\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/e5\/kx0sy9dguahe.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f546-7c11-4912-c8eb41d58db2\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f546-7c11-4912-c8eb41d58db2\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003EBy mid-2013, Siege of Dragonspear’s plot was sketched out. All Daigle and his team had to do was write it. Not as easy a task as you might think, considering that the two Baldur’s Gate video games contain the same word count as 21 fantasy novels added together. “We were adding the equivalent of six novels right in the center of that,” said Daigle, “so we had to make sure that the new stuff harmonized with the original content.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-bbdb2d3d-f551-ece7-c79a-3379ba792304\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe Beamdog team designed and added four new joinable companions to Siege of Dragonspear. “Once we've established what class would play well, we start talking about story ideas for the character\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 18.6667px;\"\u003E,” said Daigle, “\u003C\/span\u003EWe have a round of pitches, some refinements, and then we bounce our ideas back and forth with Wizards of the Coast to make sure we're on target with the lore. We strive to make characters that feel as if they have lives of their own beyond the player, and to really make that apparent.” \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003EThe team was keen for players to discover the plot twists for themselves, but at the time Daigle did reveal something for amateur detectives to puzzle over: “The story itself was actually inspired by the description of an item from Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. I won't reveal which item it was because that would spoil the plot, but I originally read about it 15 years ago and it has stuck with me ever since as a really cool idea.” \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EShare your impressions \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Beamdog\/\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeamdogInc\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E, and in\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003Eour forums\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E and tell us about your adventures in Siege of Dragonspear.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/7051388894342188637\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/04\/the-making-of-siege-of-dragonspear.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/7051388894342188637"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/7051388894342188637"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/04\/the-making-of-siege-of-dragonspear.html","title":"The Making of Siege of Dragonspear"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-bHefREfCUHY\/WsZWE5yCGcI\/AAAAAAAAA5o\/8SPUkZrhtT089_AL1H0QfByzZODwSC8zQCK4BGAYYCw\/s72-c\/SoD-FacebookBanner%2B%25281%2529.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-6795300461059065343"},"published":{"$t":"2018-02-14T09:37:00.001-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2018-02-14T09:51:55.672-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Fan Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"NWN:EE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Neverwinter Nights: Love you to death, Valentine! "},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/y2\/xrju9qglk643.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"772\" data-original-width=\"540\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/y2\/xrju9qglk643.png\" width=\"446\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-e7ddd907-90a6-e1da-cdf3-494d00a05546\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: #faf9fa; color: #19171c; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ELove knows no bounds!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-e7ddd907-90a7-0711-20e0-a95ac0f1529b\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ERoses are red,\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EViolets are blue,\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EYour plane is blessed\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAll because of you!\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"line-height: 2.16;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EOne of our Beamdog community members, Shaydh, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/discussion\/comment\/952886\/#Comment_952886\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Edrew\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E these amazing \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ENeverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EValentine’s Day cards of The Valsharess and Mephistopheles. Shaydh, you are our Valentine! A NWN:EE t-shirt is coming your way!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/q2\/ujb46l0horca.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"772\" data-original-width=\"540\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/q2\/ujb46l0horca.png\" width=\"446\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-e7ddd907-90a7-6925-9991-803db6649c5f\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: #faf9fa; color: #19171c; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWe’ll have a magical time together!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"line-height: 2.16;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWho in the Forgotten Realms would you send a Valentine’s card to? Let us know on \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeamdogInc\/\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Beamdog\/\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E, or \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/\"\u003Ein the forums\u003C\/a\u003E!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ENeed more Valentine's Day cards? Check out \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/02\/the-familiar-be-my-boo-valentines-cards.html\"\u003Elast year's set by ButterCheese\u003C\/a\u003E!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/6795300461059065343\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/02\/neverwinter-nights-love-you-to-death.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/6795300461059065343"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/6795300461059065343"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2018\/02\/neverwinter-nights-love-you-to-death.html","title":"Neverwinter Nights: Love you to death, Valentine! "}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-4016612453405849273"},"published":{"$t":"2017-12-28T12:30:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-12-28T12:30:51.168-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Baldur's Gate"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Character"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Interview"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Six Siders \u0026 Space Hamsters"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/lw\/wd4qo7cwsn40.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"521\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/lw\/wd4qo7cwsn40.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f526-c7dd-7d01-3362584d50ae\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EJames Ohlen and Cameron Tofer talk about the pen-and-paper game that saw the birth of Minsc and Boo.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f526-f104-a656-5b7b4c41c1f3\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis article was originally published in Issue 2 of the Familiar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThe original Baldur's Gate companions have risen to iconic status among classic CRPG fans over the last nineteen years. The inspiration for many of these beloved companions, including Minsc, Edwin, and Xan, came from a pen-and-paper campaign that began around 1993. James Ohlen of BioWare was the DM, and the roster of players includes current giants in the RPG industry.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“I was looking to start a Forgotten Realms campaign and expand the number of players in my group,” Ohlen recalls, “so I advertised at the public library and local gaming stores. The response I got was much bigger than I expected.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/na\/ujj570fibeop.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"249\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/na\/ujj570fibeop.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f527-5345-bee5-f0beb179fc3e\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ECameron Tofer joined the group a few months after the game began. His character? A fierce ranger named Minsc.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f527-7d44-d134-4978f1e62f75\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“I was playing a lot of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ECivilization\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E at the time and I played the Russians, and so Minsc was named after the city,” Cameron Tofer, Beamdog co-founder, explains. “He was based off some horrible rolls - his Intelligence, I just fumbled that. And because I joined late I was a couple of levels behind everyone.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIt was this level disparity that inspired one of the most adored animal companions of all time. “[Minsc] was knocked out in the first round of pretty much every fight,” Tofer says. “When I finally levelled up enough to get a companion, that's how I got Boo.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/6r\/u2otfftono9h.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"238\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/6r\/u2otfftono9h.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f527-e048-ccdb-2919eb14b463\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EAccording to Tofer, Boo was the only character he could play because Minsc was always knocked out.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ERoss Gardner played Jon Icarus, the character who later inspired \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBaldur's Gate II\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E villain Joneleth Irenicus. “I changed [the name] because of its connection with Greek mythology,” says Ohlen. Jeff Veitenheimer played a ranger named Sarevok, who not only became the villain of Baldur's Gate, but was also Minsc's big brother.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f528-1efb-4652-04b1d9739f37\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/dr\/qreba4l1wag5.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"702\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/dr\/qreba4l1wag5.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“[Sarevok] had a vorpal sword and was really badass. Everything was 'Sarevok this' and 'Sarevok that',” says Tofer.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f528-8f6f-392d-cbb81ed547a6\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ESean Carriere played Edwin, a wizard, and Dean Anderson played Bodi, Jon Icarus's sister. Ben Smedstad played Xan. “Ben was literally Xan,” Tofer recalls.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/pn\/f7wmuj4kc068.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"704\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/pn\/f7wmuj4kc068.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“A lot of lifelong friends came from the people I met in the Forgotten Realms campaign,” Ohlen says. “Some of those friends have gone on to found their own video game companies or take on senior roles at some of the biggest video game companies in the world.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f529-2448-2419-864d94e0ad7b\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThough the characters would later go on to fill the ranks of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBaldur's Gate\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E companions, the game Ohlen ran didn't inspire the storyline for the game. Ohlen had ample experience crafting and DMing adventures. “I ran [a Forgotten Realms campaign] in my teenage years and at one point I was Dungeon Mastering three separate groups at the public library in Grande Prairie,” he says. “The campaign spanned many years, thousands of hours of Dungeon Mastering, and more than 30 different players.” The campaign that saw the rise of Minsc lasted for many years, until around 1999.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vu\/xi0akm797t3i.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"464\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vu\/xi0akm797t3i.jpg\" width=\"370\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EIn that time, there were some constants in the adventures the party faced. “Every campaign we started, we'd be naked in a jail cell,” says Tofer. “[Ohlen would say], 'Ok, you wake up. Naked. In a jail cell.' 'OH NO, NOT AGAIN! EVERY TIME!'”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f529-b652-d73f-ebaa17cf7e1e\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“Cam is over exaggerating a little,” adds Ohlen. “I did use the prisoner trope quite a bit, but not all the time. The reason I used it so often probably stems from the fact that the D\u0026amp;D published adventure \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EScourge of the Slave Lords\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E is one of my favorites of all time.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EShades of the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBaldur's Gate II\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E opening scene, with the player character locked in Irenicus's dungeon? “[The trope] did probably influence \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBaldur's Gate II\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E,” Ohlen says.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E“Oh yeah,” adds Tofer. “It's a classic.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EMinsc developed over the course of the game, though his history in the pen-and-paper campaign is not the same as the character's in the video game. “Eventually when we started leveling up, Minsc was pretty badass,” Tofer recalls. And on the character sheet, Minsc is listed as having a sister. “Yeah, but she came in late, she didn't really play a role,” says Tofer. “It was just Minsc lying unconscious and Boo running around doing everything.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EMinsc and Boo had “some kind of mental link” says Tofer, which made it easier to play the hamster. Perhaps Boo is the one influencing Minsc in \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBaldur's Gate\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ELuckily for us, Tofer saved many of the character sheets from the original campaign.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/t8\/6cogaqm0sa4t.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/t8\/6cogaqm0sa4t.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vx\/0s8js4sppxqg.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"600\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/vx\/0s8js4sppxqg.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f52a-7504-9fdf-d12bf62efce8\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EBehold Minsc's original character sheet, over 20 years old and full of detail about the original butt-kicking ranger.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-34afd5b9-f52a-c3db-384c-1f62ab69177e\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EStay tuned, we’re excited to share more materials from the Familiar in upcoming weeks! Share your impressions \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Beamdog\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeamdogInc\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E, and in\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eour forums\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E and tell us about your experience with pen-and-paper adventures.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/4016612453405849273\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/12\/six-siders-space-hamsters.html#comment-form","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/4016612453405849273"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/4016612453405849273"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/12\/six-siders-space-hamsters.html","title":"Six Siders \u0026 Space Hamsters"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056840175934362101.post-6504765197705221703"},"published":{"$t":"2017-08-21T09:45:00.003-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-08-21T09:45:48.565-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Baldur's Gate"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Baldur's Gate II"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Easter Eggs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Screenshot"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Siege of Dragonspear"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"The Familiar"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"More Player Enhanced Editions Finds!"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/b6\/jx54ovjeaocp.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/b6\/jx54ovjeaocp.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f4-09f1-fb61-a52e374c5774\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWild magic... What could possibly go wrong?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWe love seeing Beamdog forum member share screenshots and stories of odd encounters and interesting tricks in the Enhanced Editions! Today we’re picking out a few of our favorites and giving away a few t-shirts!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/5p\/j8s5ctr0zllt.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/5p\/j8s5ctr0zllt.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/qo\/i7rimnatqy09.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/qo\/i7rimnatqy09.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f5-a433-0f81-8c3ca4b75208\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EOnce upon a time, there was a Nashkel town…\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003EOne of the keys to longevity of the Baldur’s Gate franchise are the stories players tell about their adventures. In this game, lives of the whole town can depend on a lucky or, in this case, an extremely unlucky roll of the dice.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f5-f773-d797-54298ec29817\" style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFamouswolfe \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/discussion\/65405\/epic-neera-fail\"\u003Ehad tried\u003C\/a\u003E to tread lightly while playting Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, till Neera in their party attempted to cast Magic Missile to disrupt an assassin. A wild surge happened, then another wild surge, and another! Cows began raining from the sky and wiped out the entire town (along with Neera, a town guard, and several important NPCs like Minsc, Edwin, and Noober).\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/67\/y7ttb0rstsja.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/67\/y7ttb0rstsja.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f6-d1ea-1cfe-6c04d6c4063a\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETNO in Wonderland.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EMontresor_SP (author of the famous Sorcerer's Place Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough) continues to dig out and share secrets in Infinity Engine games with the community.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EThis time, Montresor \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/discussion\/comment\/880174\/#Comment_880174\"\u003Espotted\u003C\/a\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Ean Alice in Wonderland Easter Egg in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition.\"Curios-er and Curios-her!\" – cried Ravel.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ECheck out other Easter Eggs of Sigil in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/05\/planescape-scramble-hidden-easter-eggs.html\"\u003Eone of our previous blog entries\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/CYGdBh3.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/CYGdBh3.png\" data-original-height=\"71\" data-original-width=\"765\" height=\"58\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f8-1619-e4c1-63bac8d0007a\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EWhat it takes to defeat a dragon?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003EBaldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear offers a wide variety of intelligent enemies, and provides the player with inventive options to overcome them.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EMarkzaku \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/discussion\/comment\/884692\/#Comment_884692\"\u003Ehas discovered\u003C\/a\u003E that you can one-shot Morentherene, a green dragon under the Forest of Wyrms, if you hit her with a throwing dagger while she is still sleeping. Be cautious, though, dragons are light sleepers!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/eo\/dvu0a58qi34z.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"500\" data-original-width=\"800\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5019558\/uploads\/editor\/eo\/dvu0a58qi34z.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-c3c80026-f4f9-0fe9-b1ab-4409e6b2bb62\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E14 misses in a row? - It’s more than simply bad luck.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EAccording to Johntyl, some weapons you find in Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn are as popular as they should be. During their recent playthrough of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, they \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/discussion\/comment\/880496\/#Comment_880496\" style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Ehave discovered\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E the usefulness of Soul Reaver +4, a two-handed sword being talked about by players much less, if compared to famous Carsomyr and Silver Sword. Each hit with this sword gives the target a cumulative 2 point penalty to THAC0, which means 10 consecutive hits on an enemy creates an impressive 20-point penalty! Even the Wraith Sarevok can’t counter it.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EMontresor_SP, Markzaku, Johntyl and Famouswolfe will all receive their choice of a Siege of Dragonspear or Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition t-shirt! Congratulations! Watch out for a message from our Community Manager!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EShare \u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 18.6667px;\"\u003Efavorite stories about the Enhanced Editions\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Beamdog\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeamdogInc\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E, and in\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/forums.beamdog.com\/\" style=\"text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003Eour forums\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: transparent; font-family: \u0026quot;georgia\u0026quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003E!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/feeds\/6504765197705221703\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/08\/more-player-enhanced-editions-finds.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/6504765197705221703"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2056840175934362101\/posts\/default\/6504765197705221703"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.beamdog.com\/2017\/08\/more-player-enhanced-editions-finds.html","title":"More Player Enhanced Editions Finds!"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Anonymous"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13116717838289244649"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}}]}});