[MOD] High-Power Baldur's Gate Version 1.6

This is a huge mod for Baldur's Gate 1 that I've been working on for a year and a half, and I am finally done with it. This mod makes drastic changes to the game, modifying just about every creature and item as well as many spells. All the enemies throughout the game are now given ridiculous powers they have no right to have: xvarts stop time whenever they move, giant spiders summon additional spiders each time they hit you, tasloi use their berserking gaze to make party members attack each other, and much more. The tougher enemies are much worse. There are some enemies in the Cloakwood Mines now that could probably solo Sarevok in the unmodded game with ease. Altogether, the enemies are much stronger as a result of their new powers. The good news is that your party gets powered up as well.

Each NPC party member now gains additional abilities and passive effects. For example, Xzar now has permanent Aura Cleansing (he can begin casting another spell right after casting his previous one), and he can cast Control Undead and Energy Drain at will and summon hordes of skeletons which ignore the summoning limit. Imoen now attacks five times per round no matter what weapon she uses and can cast Phantom Blade, creating a sword which can now attack at long range (allowing her to backstab at long range). Kivan has increased vision range, allowing him to see enemies who cannot see him back, and he can attack those enemies with ranged attacks from an increased distance. Edwin can now cast double spells of all spell levels; this also doubles the additional spells from his amulet and his conjurer kit (if he equips a Ring of Wizardry he can cast quadruple spells!). All the NPC party members are given awesome powers like these.

In addition, the protagonist - as well as any other player character created at the start of the game - will gain innate abilities based on their class and their kit. For example, a Paladin player character with no kit will be able to cast Draw Upon Holy Might, Holy Power, Righteous Magic, Champion's Strength, Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, Negative Plane Protection, and Critical Strike (ability from Throne of Bhaal) once per day each. Some classes and kits will get abilities they can use at will. An Enchanter can cast Greater Malison at will, and multiple Greater Malisons now stack. A Conjurer can cast Conjure Lesser Kobold at will to get an endless army of kobold meatshields that ignore the summoning limit. These abilities are meant to make them somewhat on par with the NPC party members. The protagonist will also get more powerful abilities from the dreams. By the end of the game, a good protagonist will be able to cast spells like Greater Restoration and Mass Raise Dead, while an evil protagonist will be flinging around abilities Emotion: Hopelessness and a much more powerful version of Energy Drain.

I've greatly empowered all magical weapons and armor, with the exception of certain ammunition and shields. The items usually have new abilities and often have greater enchantment. I even modified generic +1 and +2 magical weapons and armor. For example, the Katana +1 now gives the wielder the effects of Kai while it's equipped. Note that this also makes enemies that use these items tougher. Additionally, I've added a lot of new items to the game. Some of them are original to me; others were taken from Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, or Planescape Torment. I've spread cool items throughout the stores in the game so that almost every shop sells something interesting.

I've increased the rewards from many quests. Now more quests will reward you with unique items you can't get anywhere else, rather than just a small amount of gold or a weak magic item.

I've also placed lots of stat-increasing manuals and tomes throughout the game, mainly in the hands of enemies. There are enough of them to get one or two party members to 25 in all stats by the end of the game. The mod is designed in such a way that having 25 in all stats isn't completely broken like it would be in the unmodded game.

Despite all this, I didn't actually change the experience cap. By the end of the game, you'll have level 8-10 characters that are comparable to Throne of Bhaal characters. By then, the tougher enemies will be comparable to Throne of Bhaal enemies as well. However, you will reach the experience cap faster, since most enemies give a lot more experience now. Also, although the enemies you face are much more powerful, I tried to avoid spectacle creep as much as possible. For the most part, this mod doesn't pit the party against monsters generally associated with epic level such as balors or liches. Instead, you will for the most part be facing the same enemies you would in the normal game, except that this mod makes them much stronger. In version 1.6 I did add a dragon to the game, but it's only a juvenile dragon.

This mod also modifies content that was introduced in the Enhanced Edition, namely Rasaad, Neera and Dorn, and the areas, creatures and items that are associated with them, as well as the items that Beamdog put throughout the game.

One main focus of the mod is to make each encounter in the game as unique as possible in the hopes of making each one more interesting. The powers the enemies get are meant to make them more unique, because different enemies get different powers. Each enemy that has a name (like "Drasus" or "Nimbul") gets empowered in their own way. In particular, I went out of my way to make it so that every spellcasting creature file in the game has a unique script and set of spells. No longer will all the mages in the game be casting the exact same spells in the same order. Some enemy spellcasters get signature spells that no one else gets, like "Ragefast's Duplication," which lets him cast his spells twice as with Enoll Eva's Duplication from Planescape Torment.

This mod adds a good number of combat encounters to the game, often in creative ways. The enemies in the mod are sneaky, especially shapeshifters. I've scattered doppelgangers throughout the game. They masquerade as ordinary commoners, only to strike when you let your guard down. Doppelgangers can even shapeshift into animals now. The doppelgangers you encounter in different areas all cast different spells. One doppelganger might maze everyone in the party except the protagonist and rush at them with Improved Haste, while another one might spam lightning bolts at the party. I've also placed a lot of interesting new monsters throughout the game, like Vorpal Spiders, Burning Wizards, and Insidious Lightning Kobolds.

Aside from giving each spellcaster a unique AI, this is not an AI mod, but it does make one general change to most enemies: if you damage an enemy who can't see you (e.g. by casting Cloudkill on them from offscreen), they will come to you. This is mainly done so that a character like Kivan who has increased vision range can't simply pick off enemies from outside their vision range without them doing anything (though if you attack someone from outside their vision, you can still get a few hits in before they see you).

This mod tries to turn the game into a very different experience from the regular Baldur's Gate 1, and also a different experience from Baldur's Gate 2. My hope is that this will make the game more fun. It definitely makes the game much more fun for me. I'm enjoying this mod so much that it has ruined my appreciation for the unmodded game. It's just so much more awesome with this mod.

Screenshots:



Version 1.6 is out; in this version I have fixed some major bugs, added some more items to the game, and begun to implement the Identify Creature spell.

Change log:


Known bugs:


You can download the newest version of the mod (V1.6) here.