sheesh

If you're looking for lots of replayability, you might want to check out Blades of Avernum. It uses the same engine as Nethergate but is designed for user created scenarios, of which there are quite a few (not nearly as many as there are for the older Blades of Exile, but that can be a bit of a hassle to play). The "demo" for BoA is one full scenario from start to finish, which should give you a decent feel for what to expect, and I think you can get the full version (three more "official" scenarios and the ability to play fan created ones) fairly cheap when ordering another game.

You could always give the original Nethergate demo a try!

If you trigger the bug before getting the first mission, there's no way to reenter town, as the gates are all closed. Granted, you're not losing much progress, but it's kind of annoying to have to go back through character creation again.

Start a new game (Celt or Roman - this apparently works for both). Delete the first character, customize the rest however you like, then begin. Once you get to the map, before moving or anything, create a new character. Have him trade places with someone else, then delete him. Now, take one step in any direction, and you'll be warped to the far northwest corner of town. While this lets you avoid receiving your first mission, it's probably not actually useful. Just a very strange glitch. Edit: On further investigation, it seems as though the bug is triggered any time you create a new character in the first slot and then take a step. Hmm.

Excellent. Will the automap be like it was in Nethergate (a new window) or BoA (replacing the character status panel)? I personally prefer the Nethergate interface on that one, as it's convenient when playing in windowed mode to be able to put the map anywhere on the screen.

I did a Celt one-PC playthrough quite a while back, and from what I recall it was pretty easy. I did abuse bugs a bit (the Druid skills character creation one and also the fact that summoned creatures can be killed for free experience), but relying heavily on multi-target magic and Berserk (you have to be very strategic, though, to make sure that you only fight enemies one at a time--staying out of fight mode helps for that sometimes) is very effective. Once you've cleared out the first goblin lair, the rest of the game should not be too difficult.

Quote: Originally written by Thuryl: If you put a potion in, it turns into Knowledge Brew. If you put a stack of potions in, they all turn into Knowledge Brew. I consider it cheating, so I don't bless potions. Though for cheap skill points, I think just summoning creatures and then slaughtering them repeatedly is more efficient.

I actually think the Celts are better even *without* taking into account their magical superiority; Berserk is much more useful than Roman Training (plus picking it as a character attribute nets an experience bonus), and using slings rather than javelins certainly doesn't hurt.