Reputation

In Baldur's Gate, reputation is a measure of how well regarded you are within the world of Baldur's Gate, with higher values representing a 'better' reputation. High reputation brings the following benefits:

• Reduced prices in shops (reputation 16 and above).
• Positive reactions from good and neutral NPCs.
• Good and neutral companions more likely to remain in the party.

Note that all three games are skewed towards you having a high reputation. Whilst it is possible to play with a party full of evil characters, some quests may be off-limits and others will resolve in a manner which results in less experience than for groups with high reputation. If your reputation falls too low, stores will refuse to sell you goods and you may find yourself under regular attack by officers of the law (e.g. the Flaming Fist in BG1).

Starting reputation

Your starting reputation is set based on the alignment of your main character. Note that reputation is reset at the beginning of BG2, so if you import a character with reputation 20 from BG1 into BG2, your reputation will revert to the standard value for your alignment. However, you will retain your reputation in Siege of Dragonspear if you play straight through from BG1.

Effect on companions

Companions which you have recruited into your party may complain about your reputation and will leave if it strays too high (evil companions) or low (good and neutral companions). Although 'neutral' companions should be unhappy with both ultra-low and ultra-high reputations, in practice whilst they may grumble about high reputation they will not leave the party because of it.