My 2 cents.
On Kara-Turan weapons: If the proficiency exists during Character Creation, then CHARNAME
must have some sort of access to the weapon(s) in Candlekeep, or at least something similar enough to serve for training purposes. But due to their rare and exotic nature, the proficiency must have significant penalties. I would suggest capping the Katana/Wakizashi proficiency at a maximum of 1 point during Character Creation, as there's nobody who could train you. Any itinerant Kensai or Monk would be there solely as the attendant bodyguard of a passing Wu-Jen who happened to be able to read Common, and would in all probability have neither the time nor the inclination to instruct a local ruffian in anything more than a few basic cuts & feints. Nor would the Watchers be of any help in training--quite the opposite, really, as they would all laugh at CHARNAME's attempts to wield a
curved sword, and urge him to take up a
real weapon instead.
Nor would this theoretical Kara-Turan swordsman just casually dump his blades into some random container in the Barracks. What the heck were you thinking? Is this still Baldur's Gate 1 we're talking about here, or has this thread migrated to the Duke Nukem boards? Gifting CHARNAME with over 250gp worth of Oriental steel, free to dual-wield to his heart's content, and all for overcoming the horrifically daunting archfiend known as Shank, is the kind of thing that will make your mod suck, no doubt about it. No, this samurai would have
sold his spare weapon, not given it away--he would have given CHARNAME his
boken to practice with, if that. I do agree, though, that all Kara-Turan steel should be unbreakable: It was made far away and well before the advent of the iron crisis, so unless you actually dunk the blades in mineral poison or rub them with contaminated ore, they should be perfectly trustworthy.
My idea of distribution would be as follows:
Katana -- dropped by Melium, dropped by one of the adventuring party encountered in the Basilisk map
Katana+1 -- dropped by Tamoko
Wakizashi -- sold by Winthrop, sold by Taerom Fuirim, dropped by one of the Iron Throne party at the Nashkel Mines backdoor
Wakizashi+1 -- dropped by one of Sunin's guards
Ninja-to -- dropped by Nimbul, dropped by Credus, dropped by Thaldorn
Ninja-to+1 -- sold by Black Lily
Rare? Difficult to obtain? Late in the game? Guilty as charged. You were warned. If CHARNAME wants to use his Katana/Wakizashi proficiency right from Day 1, he should have to pay for it--probably even being forced to sacrifice the purchase price of the Splint Mail.
Ashirukuru, Shadow Warrior (in Durlag's Tower [TotSC])
Replaced Short Sword with Wazikashi +1
Added Boots of Phasing, Poisoned Throwing Dagger
Why? They're already nasty enough as it is, especially if you don't want to abuse (or have used up) Durlag's Goblet. Personally, I don't think invisible-by-nature creatures should have any loot at all.
Beyn (in the Ice Island cave [TotSC])
Added Poisoned Throwing Dagger, Bracers of Defense AC4, Fail +2
I can see how he might be considered to be more powerful than Davaeorn, but then again he doesn't have the backing of a powerfully rich mercantile organization. His Bracers should be AC6, if that.
Bishop (in the Chess game of Durlag's Tower [TotSC]
Added Full Plate Mail +1, Large Shield +1, Flail +1, Sling of Seeking +2, Sunstone Bullet +1
The Full Plate and Slings are too much, methinks.
Davaeorn ('boss' of Cloakwood Mines)
Added Scroll Case, Bag of Holding, Poisoned Throwing Dagger, Sling +2, Sunstone Bullet +1
Personally, I would lose the sling & bullets, and move the BoH to one of the chests in his treasury.
Gorion (umm, who is he?
Gets killed right after the tutorial)
Added Gem Bag, Scroll Case, Potion Case, Scroll of Identify
Lose the Gem Bag and Potion Case and that's more like it.
Gnoll Chieftan (at Gnoll Stronghold and the area just South of the Lighthouse area)
Replaced Halbert with Spear +1
Added Hide Armor
I'd make it a Halberd+1, and frankly, I find it easier to picture a Gnoll wearing ragged bits of Chain armor.
Jardak (resides in a house in Baldur's Gate North)
Replaced Long Sword +1 with Katana +2
Added Sling +2, Sunstone Bullet +1
Katana--no. Just no. And I think his (existing?) Crossbow is more appropriate than a Sling.
Nimbul (a hostile encounter at Nashkel)
Replaced Short Sword +1 with Scimitar +1
Added Gem Bag, Scroll Case
I see no real reason for the Scroll Case, but the Gem Bag is appropriate in the sense that he expects to collect loot and riches from his vitims. The change to Scimitar is good (since the party just got a SS+1 from Mulahey), but more important would be correcting his hacked AC, giving him a pair of droppable Bracers of AC8, and changing his Throwing Axes to Throwing Daggers.
Prism (Nashkel Mines exterior; the one hunted by Greywolf)
Added Gem Bag, Potion Case
This quest is overburdened with phat lewt as it is--let it be.
Raemon (in Tazok's tent in the Bandit Camp)
Replaced Long Sword with Spear +2
A Spear+1 would be better on Britik, the Gnoll. Leave the +2 verson on Tam.
Rashad (the poisoner of Duke Eltan in the final chapter)
Replaced Long Sword with Katana +2
Apart from the Kara-Turan weapons issues I blabbed about above, as a general rule Doppelgangers use no weapons at all. Are you sure he carries a Longsword?
Slythe (one of the assassins of Scar found in the final chapter)
Replaced Light Crossbow with Boomerang Dagger +2
Added Poisoned Throwing Dagger
Only if you remove his Crossbow & Bolts. Let the Boomerang Dagger be of +1 enchantment, leave the +2 for BG2.
Tam (found in the exit of the Candlkeep Catacombs)
Replaced Short Sword with Spear +2
Good. As long as he's not the Gnome, that is.
Teven (at Bandit Camp)
Replaced Long Sword with Wazikashi +1
Added Poisoned Throwing Dagger
He's too much of a low-level flunky to have good loot.
Teyngan (a bandit north-west of Nashkel)
Replaced Mace with Flail +1
Added Sling +1, Sunstone Bullet +1
What's with all the Sunstone Bullets? I say this guy is fine as-is, anyway. Not
everybody in the world gets an enchanted weapon, after all.
Vax (a bandit south of Nashkel)
Replaced Halberd with Wazikashi +1
Added Ninja-To +1, 2 Ammo Belts, Poisoned Throwing Dagger
I would lose all of that except for 1 Ammo Belt--and it goes on Zal, not Vax. And Darts and Throwing Daggers use different proficiencies.
FW2602 - Candlekeep Introduction: Shank's Shack
Added to Container 3: Potion of Healing, unbreakable Ninja-To, unbreakable Katana
An extra Potion of Healing in the beginning can be a lifesaver, and carries no risk of unbalancing the game. The weaponry, however, is right out.
FW4800 - Nashkel
Added to Container 7: Ammo Belt, Bracers of Defense AC5, Dart of Stunning
Replace in Container 7: Ankheg Plate Mail with Hide Armor
I don't get this change at all. First you store thousands of gp worth of rare and powerful magic items in a little hole in the ground, and then you remove the Ankheg Plate, because the people of Nashkel don't leave thousands of gp worth of rare and powerful magic items lying in a little hole in the ground. Wtf? The
only things that might logically be found here are a low-level gemstone (
not a Pearl), or a gold piece or two.
Change stackable size to 50
I see no problem with this at all, unless there's already some other mod that changes it to 40, which I think is good enough. 20 is just too low, I ALWAYS run out of ammo in the Cloakwood, even if I stuff my guys' backpacks completely full before heading off.
As you can see, you get a number of 'gifts' right at the start of the game with Lost Items.
See my point re: Duke Nukem.
[ADD] One thing I would add, though: There are two major changes between the loot found in BG1 and BG2. One, containers, has already been well taken care of. The other, Regeneration items, has yet to be addressed. A Pearly White Ioun Stone could be added to The Surgeon and to one of the Red Wizards of Thay without upsetting anything, and since one of the major components of a Ring of Regeneration is part of a troll's brain, it seems right to put it in the abode of someone with access to plenty of these: Durlag Trollkiller. I'm thinking it would be perfect on the finger of the King in the chess game. Speaking of whom, however, the World's Edge needs some help: It's fine for BG1, but come BG2 and it's just a 2-Handed Sword+3, hardly worthy of the inflated title and the "it seems improbable that such a mighty weapon could ever be forged by the hands of mortals" that the Item Description keeps blathering on about. I'd say that this weapon could really do with an additional enchantment or two, to make it more unique, and less presumptuous in retrospect. A copy of it could even be added to the Improved North Forest component of the Tactics mod, along with the other loot from Durlag's Tower that's already there.