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Faren Overview and FAQ


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#1 Miss Sakaki

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Posted 03 January 2008 - 05:40 AM

Faren Overview and FAQ

This mod adds a new NPC called Faren Blacknall to Baldur's Gate II. Faren is a True Neutral dual-classed Fighter/Thief. He has a bit of a weakness of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but he has a friendly disposition and is willing to share a joke or a drink with a PC who treats him with respect. Faren can be found in the Trademeet jail.

The mod features romance and friendship tracks for the protagonist. Faren will romance female or male protagonists regardless of race. He is not initially looking for love, rather companionship and comfort, not to mention fun, but as your relationship continues his feelings may become deeper.
 
Is Faren Enhanced Edition compatible?
Yes, thanks to Kaeloree! As of v3, he also has content with the Beamdog NPCs.

When should I install Faren?
Use Kaeloree's installation order guide as a reference. Install Adrian before Faren if you want their crossmod content! (If you install him before the NPC mods it isn't a disaster - you'll just need to go back and install the crossmod components.)

Does Faren use WeiDU?
Yes.
 
Does Faren have ToB content?
Yes.

Do I need ToB to play Faren?
No.

Do I need to start a new game to play Faren?
No, you don't. You can also have visited Trademeet before installing him.

When did Faren dual-class?
He dual-classed from fighter to thief at level 7. Depending on the level of the PC, he will vary in level when you meet him.

Does Faren have special items?
Yes, he has a bag of marbles which catch the light in a distracting way, and can cast Confusion once per day. There are also new items available in the mod, some more mechanically useful and some which are purely flavourful.
 
How much PC-related content does Faren have?
In Shadows of Amn, Faren has the following:
-9 tracked talks for friendship
-20 tracked talks for romance
-8 plot-related talks that any PC can see
-Drinking-related talks for friendship, early romance and late romance
-Phaere response
-Chapter 6 Bodhi encounter and responses
-25 early romance Faren-initiated flirts (some of which adapt to the PC's stats, gender, and PC comments)
-20 late romance Faren-initated flirts
 
In Throne of Bhaal, Faren has the following:
-5 tracked talks for friendship

-1 plot-related friendship talk

-6 tracked talks for romance
-3 plot-related romance talks

-1 plot-related talk that any PC can see
-12 Faren-initiated flirts

What sort of content is in player-initiated dialogue?
Romantic and friendly players can access the player-initiated dialogue, which ranges from asking Faren what he thinks of a certain situation to messing up his hair. There is more of an emphasis on chat and questions than physical/romantic affection, though there are specific romantic interactions which change based on how far you are through the romance.

How will Faren interact with other NPCs? Will he attack or be attacked by another party-member?
Faren has 3 banters with each party NPC in SoA and 1 in ToB. Although he gets on better with some party members than others, he doesn't have any lethal conflicts. As for how he interacts, he gets on best with people he can relate to and has things in common with. A character like Haer'dalis or even Minsc is very alien to him. Probably the characters he gets on best with are Yoshimo and Mazzy, though he has soft spots for other characters too. For more detailed information, check out How Faren plays with others.

How will Faren react to an evil Charname? Will he still romance or befriend one?
Yes, he will. However, there is a variable tracking how much he likes you based on the things you've said to him. If you've consistently said unpleasant things to him, he'll have something to say about it, and you'll have a chance to convince him that you're worth his time.

Is there any chance for an NPC/NPC romance if Charname is uninterested?
No.

Quest-wise, are there short encounters or a big quest?
There are a couple of short encounters which can be replayed with different outcomes.

Will Faren break up with me?
If you treat him badly, he will have a few choice things to say about it. There are also points where you can break up with him amicably or less so, depending what you prefer if you want to. You can end the romance at any time using his player-initiated dialogue menu; in the early romance, this will switch Faren to the friendship track.

What rating does the mod have?
There is no violence or skulduggery stronger than that already in the game. There are heterosexual and homosexual situations and themes in the romance track, ranging from PG-13 to mild R.
 
What crossmod content does Faren have?
You can install crossmod content allowing Faren to interact with the following modded characters and romances if you have them installed: Adrian, Jastey's Ajantis, Amber, Angelo, Arath, Auren Aseph, Beyond the Law, Kulyok's Branwen, Chloe (SoA), Kulyok's Coran, Dace, Darian, jcompton's de'Arnise Romance (SoA), Laufey's Edwin Romance, Fade, Haldamir, Isra, Iylos (ToB), Kelsey, Keto (SoA), The Luxley Family (SoA), Nathaniel, Nephele, Ninde, Romantic Encounters, Saerileth, Sarah, Tashia, Kulyok's Tiax, Weimer's Solaufein, Tsujatha, Kulyok's Xan, Xulaye (Underdark), Yasraena, and Pixel Kaiser's Yeslick (SoA).
 
Can I write Faren-related stuff without your permission?
Go ahead! We're also happy to collaborate if you're interested.

Attached Files


Edited by Miss Sakaki, 14 June 2015 - 04:34 AM.


#2 My Anata

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Posted 10 January 2008 - 04:12 PM

I am intrigued by this mod... One of my biggest gripes with Solaufein was that while he was coded to be romanceable by both genders, the dialogues were identical and bland both ways. (I have never played the Imoen Romance, but from what I've read, there is only one dialogue in which she comments on the PC being female.)

I have a few questions: Will Faren be voiced?
How will Faren interact with other NPCs? Will he attack or be attacked by another party-member?
How will Faren react to an evil Charname? Will he still romance or befriend one?
Is there any chance for an NPC/NPC romance if Charname is uninterested?

Thank you very much! Good luck. :cheers:

"If you let the fly live, then the spider will die. You cannot save both without one suffering..." ~ Knives (Trigun)


#3 Miss Sakaki

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Posted 10 January 2008 - 04:45 PM

Cool, I'm glad you're looking forward to it! We're looking forward to getting him released too. Hopefully it won't be too long away! :cheers: And now for the questions...

Will Faren be voiced?
We don't have an actor lined up at this stage, but he'll definitely be extensively voiced.

How will Faren interact with other NPCs? Will he attack or be attacked by another party-member?
Although he gets on better with some party members than others, he doesn't have any lethal conflicts. As for how he interacts, he gets on best with people he can relate to and has things in common with. A character like Haer'dalis or even Minsc is very alien to him. Probably the characters he gets on best with are Yoshimo and Mazzy, though he has soft spots for other characters too.

How will Faren react to an evil Charname? Will he still romance or befriend one?
Yes, he will. However, there is a variable tracking how much he likes you based on the things you've said to him. If you've consistently said unpleasant things to him, he'll have something to say about it, and you'll have a chance to convince him that you're worth his time.

Is there any chance for an NPC/NPC romance if Charname is uninterested?
Not with the Biowares, no.

#4 Arathlan

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Posted 10 January 2008 - 05:52 PM

*waves hand*

Oooh, I'm going through with Nathanial and now you drop Faren on me!

...I love it really...

I need more time to play BG2 :)

Happy to give it a whirl, possibly write stuff and I'd love to give voicing a shot at some stage.

Anyway - here if you you'd like some assistance.

#5 Midwinter

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Posted 11 January 2008 - 02:27 AM

Sounds promising. I like how the romance actually reacts to the way you treat him. In most Bioware romances, you either clicked all the right responses to continue or you said 'STFU' a couple of times and be done with it. I also like the fact that same gender romance is actually recognized and different from the heterosexual path.

So, good luck! This is something to look forward to. :)

Oh, one question: any plans for crossmod banters/romance conflicts (e.g. Nathaniel)?

#6 Miss Sakaki

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Posted 11 January 2008 - 07:18 AM

Happy to give it a whirl, possibly write stuff and I'd love to give voicing a shot at some stage.

Anyway - here if you you'd like some assistance.


Thank you, it's very much appreciated! :cheers:

I also like the fact that same gender romance is actually recognized and different from the heterosexual path.


Yes, both paths follow the same basic "shape", but there are differences in the things he says during romance talks, as well as in the flirts.

Any plans for crossmod banters/romance conflicts (e.g. Nathaniel)?
There will definitely be crossmod material with Nathaniel, Andrei and Sebastian - and a conflict with Nathaniel rather than a romance auto-kill. As to other mods, I think we'll probably wait until the release to start working on them, simply because there's already quite a lot on our plate.

#7 Riviera

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Posted 16 January 2008 - 11:12 AM

Wow, just finished the Luxleys and you two are on another one! I need some of your productivity! :D

He looks great, too!

Now, if my BG2 computer would just cooperate and start working for me..

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
- Pablo Neruda


#8 Ankhes

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Posted 11 February 2008 - 09:09 PM

I haven't finished the Luxley's yet but already Faren looks delicious and I can hardly wait. It's so obvious I adore romances and especially ones with cute guys!
Yay and hurry up! Just kidding. I'll be here. :)

#9 Peydey

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Posted 28 April 2008 - 03:35 AM

I know its been a while since I posted... but WOW! I like the sound of him already! He reminds me of the mills & boon males in all the books where I work. Except he romances BOTH genders!

#10 Miss Sakaki

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Posted 28 April 2008 - 07:23 AM

Heh, he's not quite got the alpha male/sensitive soul combination to be properly Mills & Boon, though he'd maybe like to think he has...

#11 LadyFiana

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Posted 17 May 2008 - 05:45 AM

He sounds like he would be fun to have around. Love the portrait.
Oh, Seldarine...I'm in love with a paladin.

#12 Catseye

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Posted 19 May 2008 - 06:31 PM

Hey there,
Been away for a little while and just popped in and saw this. Faren sounds very interesting and can't wait to give him a try :)
Just arrived from The Inn of the Prancing Pony

#13 justthisguy

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Posted 25 May 2008 - 02:10 AM

I've only recently began to fully appreciate thieves (i.e I've began playing around with backstabbing) so keep it up! Haven't played any mods by Miss Sakaki but that's mostly because I consider Gibberlings3 my home. I do have one content-related question about quests and such. Do you intend to include a significant number of 'smaller encounters' or were you going for a one-big-quest solution?

#14 Furare

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Posted 29 May 2008 - 09:18 AM

Um, sorry if you've already said this somewhere else (I am not always the brightest button in the box) but: Are there any stat/alignment requirements for the romance? I know about the race and the bisexuality - which I really love, by the way, I can't wait to play this with both a male and a female Bhaalspawn :D.

And do you know that on the mod page (not the forums) it says he has 6 Con rather than 16? I was going to ask you guys what you had against the Constitution stat, but then I realised it was a typo! (Nathaniel's fragility being the only thing that I didn't like...except the stutter, I'm going to try again with that on a new install.)

I shall be keeping an eye on the progress of this mod...

~Furare~

#15 Kaeloree

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Posted 29 May 2008 - 12:37 PM

Yeah, that's my fault :D I haven't had time to update it. Later this morning it shall be done!

#16 Miss Sakaki

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Posted 31 May 2008 - 04:51 AM

@Gert Jan - there are two encounters/quests, both with various outcomes. They don't span the game in a long-running way, but they have more than one segment, if that makes sense - you need to make more than one decision to complete them.

@Furare - there aren't any romance restrictions other than non-short, though at some points, such as if he's already annoyed with Charname, it's easier to get him in a better mood if you're human. And yes, he's not horribly-constitutioned, thankfully!

#17 My Anata

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Posted 31 May 2008 - 07:35 PM

Oh-ho! I've been lurking for a while but I have a question that has been flitting around in my head lately. Forgive me if it has already been addressed.

It has been stated that Faren is a very go-with-the-flow kind of guy. So if he is say, surrounded by party members who are predominantly evil and he's romancing a PC who likes to hold noblewomen hostage in exchange for questionable bloomers, will he be tempted to "join the dark side", so to speak? Can Charname corrupt Faren?

Edited by My Anata, 31 May 2008 - 07:37 PM.

"If you let the fly live, then the spider will die. You cannot save both without one suffering..." ~ Knives (Trigun)


#18 Peydey

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Posted 23 June 2008 - 02:56 AM

This mod sounds like lots of fun! I am a big fan of your work, Miss Sakaki!