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Semaj

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Semaj is a conjurer and one of Sarevok's most loyal and closest allies in Baldur's Gate. He's encountered again by Gorion's Ward during the Throne of Bhaal Pocket Plane challenges.

Baldur's Gate[]

Not much is known about Semaj, as he is only ever seen in the very last battle in the Temple of Bhaal, located in the ancient Undercity beneath Baldur's Gate's, during the confrontation with Sarevok.

Mage Book[]

Please refer to the infobox for a list of the spells, Semaj has memorized. In addition, the following spells can also be found in his spellbook:

Gameplay[]

Note: This section is separated by games due to changes between the original game, with its expansion installed, or when playing the Enhanced Edition. Only generally applicable items are listed at the top.
  • Semaj has 80% resistance against fire damage.
  • His armor class is as low as if he would wear plate mail, without any specific damage bonuses.
  • He has a number of items equipped that are not accessible for the party via normal gameplay and give him some special resistances, immunities and abilities:
    • Bracers – Grant him Protection From Normal Missiles for 5 turns (1 hour) after entering the Temple (or reloading a savegame inside, if possible); can be dispelled;
    • Ring of Invisibility – An undroppable/unstealable but otherwise identical version of the common Sandthief's Ring; makes him invisible initially.
  • As a conjurer, he has the specialist mage's saving throw bonuses of 2 against spells from that school, while applying penalties of 2 against his own spells from the same school to targets of them.

Original Baldur's Gate[]

  • Semaj is equipped with an additional item, a necklace that makes him shielded: immunity to spells up to level 3 for 1 turn after entering the temple (or reloading a savegame inside, if possible); can be dispelled and is indicated by the same visual effect as if a true Minor Globe of Invulnerability had been cast.
  • He also wears a "Mirror Image"–ring that gives him eight dispellable Mirror Images.
  • Semaj's saving throws are in most cases reduced (i.e. improved) by 4, compared to a regular mage of level 12:
    • 7 vs. Paralysis / Poison / Death (usually 11);
    • 3 vs. Rod / Staff / Wand (usually 7);
    • 5 vs. Petrification / Polymorph (usually 9);
    • 7 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 11);
    • 5 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 8);
    • these will be further reduced in the expansion.
  • He has the spell Dispel Magic memorized, which is erased in later editions.
  • Semaj's script lists a dedicated order of spells he will cast when combat starts. All aggressive spells will target the party member nearest to him.
    Note: This is heavily changed in the expansion and later, and thus is listed completely threefold.
Semaj's battle plan
  1. He will open combat with his Cloudkill.
  2. Next he will try to Dire Charm a party member.
  3. Followed by the first Dimension Door to coordinates 1018,912, near the temple's central (and trapped) skull relief, to the southeast.
  4. Web will be cast next.
  5. Then a Fireball.
  6. His second Dimension Door teleports him to coordinates 875,582 which is roughly the same position in relation to the skull as before, but this time to the northeast.
  7. Next he'll cast Confusion.
  8. From this point on he will make use of his Lightning Bolt spells as long as he has some available – which are seven.

Tales of the Sword Coast[]

  • The "Minor Globe of Invulnerability"-item is removed from Semaj's inventory, as well as him being shielded.
  • He still wears a "Mirror Image"–ring that gives him eight dispellable Mirror Images.
  • His saving throws are far lower than by the rules:
    • 3 vs. Paralysis / Poison / Death (usually 11, 7 in the original game);
    • 1 vs. Rod / Staff / Wand (usually 7, 3 in the original game);
    • 1 vs. Petrification / Polymorph (usually 9, 5 in the original game);
    • 2 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 11, 7 in the original game);
    • 4 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 8, 5 in the original game).
  • The spell Dispel Magic is erased from his memory, and replaced with two 5th level spells: Chaos and Domination.
  • Semaj's script lists a dedicated order of spells he will cast when combat starts, as well as defining conditions. Some of these spells are forced via the script and not taken from the ones he would have valid access to; one doesn't even exist in this game. If not noted otherwise, all aggressive spells will target the party member nearest to him.
    Note: This varies heavily compared to the original game, with further alterations in the Enhanced Edition, and thus is listed completely threefold.
    Note: The spells that are not taken from his available ones can't be interrupted and will be cast with zero time.
Semaj's battle plan
  1. Conditional: If Semaj gets silenced, he will cast Vocalize on himself (not in his book).
  2. The first thing he does when the final battle starts, is teleporting himself via a Dimension Door (not from memory) to the temple's coordinates 821,966 which is between the entrance door and the central (and trapped) skull relief, closer to the latter and almost in the middle regarding east-west.
  3. Conditional: The following actions depend on when he can visually see Gorion's Ward (see further below for what happens if he cannot): then he will release a Contingency (does not exist in this game), which only includes a Greater Malison (not in his book), targeted at the Ward. [Verification needed (see following hidden script text – is "0" a valid spell resource?)]
    1. Conditional: After this Tattoo of Power is released and if he still is able to see Gorion's Ward visually, he will then cast Domination.
    2. Conditional: If he cannot see Gorion's Ward now, he will cast one of his three Fireball spells instead.
    3. His next step is another Dimension Door which teleports him to coordinates 1018,912, again near the temple's skull relief, now to its southeast.
    4. Conditional: This is followed by the Magic Staff, Mirror Image (not from memory), and a further Tattoo of Power, this time Chaos (not from memory) and Cloudkill, centered on either Gorion's Ward, if within visual range, or the closest party member if he does not see the Ward.
    5. A second Fireball follows.
    6. Then his own second Dimension Door, to coordinates 875,582 which is close to the point where he appeared first.
    7. Another Tattoo of Power: again he casts Mirror Images (not from memory) and then one of his six Lightning Bolt spells at the nearest party member.
  4. As long as Semaj has Lightning Bolts available, he will cast them (depending on conditions listed above, it might only be five).
  5. Then he switches to Fireballs, of which he has three memorized (depending on conditions listed above, there might be only one left).
  6. As long as Semaj still has memorized spells available, he will continue casting them. [Verification needed (see following hidden script text – is "0" a valid spell resource?)]

Enhanced Edition[]

  • The "Minor Globe of Invulnerability"-item is removed from Semaj's inventory, as well as him being shielded. This is carried over from the Tales of the Sword Coast.
  • The "Mirror Image"-ring he has equipped works different in the Enhanced Edition: instead of granting Semaj eight images, he gets only five.
  • His saving throws are far lower than by the rules:
    • 3 vs. Paralysis / Poison / Death (usually 11);
    • 1 vs. Rod / Staff / Wand (usually 7);
    • 1 vs. Petrification / Polymorph (usually 9);
    • 2 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 11);
    • 4 vs. Breath Weapon (usually 8).
  • As in Tales of the Sword Coast, the spell Dispel Magic is erased from his memory, and replaced with the two 5th level spells - Chaos and Domination.
  • Semaj's script lists a dedicated order of spells he will cast when combat starts, as well as defining conditions. Some of these spells are forced via the script and not taken from the ones he would have valid access to. If not noted otherwise, all aggressive spells will target the party member nearest to him.
    Note: This varies heavily compared to the original game, with further alterations to the Tales of the Sword Coast version, and thus is listed completely threefold.
    Note: The spells that are not taken from his available ones can't be interrupted and will be cast with zero time.
Semaj's battle plan
  1. Conditional: If Semaj gets silenced, he will cast Vocalize on himself (not in his book).
  2. The first thing he does when the final battle starts, is teleporting himself via a Dimension Door (not from memory) to the temple's coordinates 821,966 which is between the entrance door and the central (and trapped) skull relief, closer to the latter and almost in the middle regarding east-west.
  3. Conditional: The following actions depend on when he can visually see Gorion's Ward](see further below for what happens if he cannot): then he will release a Contingency (not in his book): a Magic Missile (not from memory) at the nearest party member and Greater Malison (not in his book) on the Ward. [Verification needed (see following hidden script text – is "" a valid spell resource?)]
    1. Conditional: After this Tattoo of Power is released and if he still is able to see Gorion's Ward visually, he will then cast Domination.
    2. Conditional: If he cannot see Gorion's Ward now, he will cast one of his three Fireball spells instead.
    3. His next step is another Dimension Door which teleports him to coordinates 1018,912, again near the temple's skull relief, now to its southeast.
    4. Conditional: This is followed by the Magic Staff, Mirror Image (not from memory), and a further Tattoo of Power, this time Chaos (not from memory) and Cloudkill, centered on either Gorion's Ward, if within visual range, or the closest party member if he does not see the Ward.
    5. A second Fireball spell follows.
    6. Then his own second Dimension Door, to coordinates 875,582 which is close to the point where he appeared first.
    7. Another Tattoo of Power: again he casts Mirror Images (not from memory) and then one of his six Lightning Bolt spells at the nearest party member.
  4. As long as Semaj has Lightning Bolts available, he will cast them (depending on conditions listed above, it might only be five).
  5. Then he switches to Fireballs, of which he has three memorized (depending on conditions listed above, there might be only one left).
  6. The last resource he accesses are the seven Magic Missile spells from his memory, which effectively can create up to thirty-five missiles.

Gallery[]


Throne of Bhaal[]

The formerly lawful conjurer has become a chaotic generalist mage who will be encountered – together with a darker image of Gorion's Ward, and Angelo and Tamoko – on the Pocket Plane during the second challenge, Possibilities. This happens after Yaga-Shura has been defeated.

Gameplay[]

  • Though having gained eight levels since the last encounter, Semaj's saving throws have worsened.
  • Additionally, he doesn't benefit anymore from the conjurer's saving throw bonus/penalty, as he has become a generalist mage.
  • He wears an invisible helmet, making him immune to critical strikes.
  • As in the first part of the game, several spells that Semaj casts after combat has started will not be taken from those he has memorized, but instead forced via scripts.
    Note: These spells can't be interrupted and will be cast with zero time.
  • If Semaj is able to visually see Gorion's Ward as either a bard, a druid, a cleric, a mage or a sorcerer, than a Spell Trigger (not from memory) is unleashed and activates Protection From Magical Weapons, Spell Deflection and Mislead.


Notes[]

  • BGIlogoonlyBaldur's Gate I
    Classic & Enhanced
    This icon indicates content from all games of the 1st Baldur's Gate instalment – all editions and expansions. This may include The Black Pits.     Besides the equipped and usable items listed in the infobox, other items found in the creature file's inventory which can't be accessed by him or the player include: ten Darts and two Potions of Healing.
  • There are some conspicuous discrepancies between the two games: he only gained two hit points with an increase of eight levels, lost his conjurer specialization, and has completely different ability scores and saving throws.
  • Throne of Bhaal LOADCNTR00004 Icon ToBBaldur's Gate II:
    Throne of Bhaal         (2001)
    This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal campaign.     Throne of Bhaal LOGOTOB00001 Icon BG2EEBaldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition – Throne of Bhaal (2013)
    This icon indicates content from the Throne of Bhaal campaign of the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.     Semaj's list of memorized spells includes three that are not written down in his Mage Book.


Trivia[]

  • Many consider Semaj to be an allusion to the game's lead designer James Ohlen; it's not the first time a name is spelled backwards to create another one (see Sarevok ←→ Koveras, Bor ←→ Rob, Sakul ←→ Lukas). Sources for this, however, seem to not exist. [citation needed]
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