Baldur's Gate: The Zero Reload Saga

Right. Before I cruelly abandoned you people, we were in the process of tracking down the murderer that’s been skinning people alive in the Bridge district of Athkatla. We spoke to Lieutenant Aegisfield back when we were hunting down the ugly halfling thief, so we know whom we need to pump for information. First, we’re going to interrogate Rampah, the crazy old beggar.

This might be just my paranoia kicking in, but I think this man is a lot smarter than he lets on. Why? Well, look at what he does halfway through your conversation with him. He asks for a hundred gold coins before he’ll give you the piece of evidence you‘re looking for. A HUNDRED.

Now, if he tried to do this under any other circumstances, we’d be snapping his spine and wiping his arse with his beard, but in this case, he gets away with it because he has a quest item.

You can barter him down until you eventually get the elephant hide (which is what he’s offering) for free, but I’d be willing to bet that a good number of players didn’t realise this at first and simply gave him the money right away, just in case refusing to do so would deny them an important item. I, for one, did exactly that on my first few times through the game.

Also, look at the amount he asks for. One hundred. That’s a lot of money, but it’s not a high enough figure that anyone would really be concerned about parting with it, given the amount of wealth you find yourself rolling in only an hour or two after starting the game. Had he asked for something really ludicrous like, say, five thousand gold, then your suspicions might kick in and you’d start thinking “Come on, there’s no way I have to pay that much just to finish a stupid quest."

But he doesn’t. He keeps the figure high without going overboard, the cunning swine, and then once he’s got your cash he retires to his mansion of wall-to-wall prostitutes, kicks back, enjoys a goblet of fine, elven wine and marvels at how easy it is to part adventurers from their riches just by dangling a worthless macguffin in their faces.

Then again, my theory is shot down somewhat by the fact that he accepts, without question, our claim that we don’t have a single penny to offer him, in spite of the fact that we’re obviously lugging around a veritable armoury of shiny magical gear.

Or maybe he just noticed the psychotic glint in Vespero’s eye and decided it’d be best not to push his luck.

Anyway, on to collect exhibit B.