30 replies to this topic

[MythrylEagle]

Rihn should be a half elf. Blush's picture still hasn't changed yet. I like it too; maybe there can be an alternative portrait. Vildamyr should also be a half elf right? Can you check your game...thanks.

Vildamyr is half-elf
Shadow is still dark haired - I like her portrait.

[Sir BillyBob]

Rihn is a human, Vild is a half-elf. Shadow and Blush are still using their original pictures for now.

Ril is a Paladin of Selune. Her followers can be of any good alignment. Just because the game does't let your PC be anything other than LG, doesn't mean that I have to follow those rules for NPCs.

Edited by Sir BillyBob, 17 February 2006 - 04:20 PM.

[MythrylEagle]

1) Rurik : portrait - blonde, inventory avatar- dark haired
2) Erky : portrait - dark haired, inventory avatar - light haired
3) Rilithar : portrait - dark haired, inventory avatar - blonde
4) Vildamyr : portrait - dark haired, inventory avatar - blonde
5) Meepo - no inventory avatar

[flem]

I wanted to wait until I played through Mistmoor again with Vildamyr and Rihn, but I may not be able to do that for a while. So here are my thoughts on the NPCs so far. I usually play a non-melee PC -- sorcerer, skald, F/T... Most recently F2->D, who's actually a pretty good tank.

Shadow: I like her a lot, which is good because she's very useful. A new portrait would be nice, but the current IWD2-adapted one is fine. She makes some timely interjections, which is good, and has a very interesting dynamic with Althon. Only problem game-wise is that the trap and lock levels escalate so fast that you really should put all her points into those, leaving the hiding/stabbing quite poor through the game so far (much less pickpocket). Having the drow cloak not self-destruct doesn't seem like the most balanced solution to this, either.

Dirbert: Also useful, and I like him. Due to the backstory I can't imagine any non-evil character dumping him before sorting out the entire slaver plot.

Rurik: The game seems to be designed so you rotate through clerics, but I like him -- the set dialog you have with him characterizes him well. F/C is a very nice combo in the long run. However, he does have the shop which makes dropping him not TOO tough (assuming no can't-talk bugs).

Erky: The religious thing spices things up a lot, but I play too fast these days and the banters rarely trigger now (more on that later). Anyway, I like his personality but find him sort of useless -- C/M is ultra-powerful at high or even medium level, but in the early stages it's just too much work to keep him alive (esp. with his realistically low CON) while actually contributing something. I guess he's useful for firing off scrolls before you get Aesdale, but now that Paraway is available I never pick up Erky. I wish you could meet him later in the game, as a midlevel runaway from a small slaver caravan or something.

Paraway: Very useful. I always give him Dirbert's bow since only Dirbert has the strength to use the many composite bows out there. That said, I've been dumping him for Althon since his plot doesn't seem to tie in as closely for the near future, and he doesn't seem to get particularly close to anyone else in the group. If his proficiencies are straightened out and he's made a spearman, that'd make him him quite, quite strong after the Sahaugin fort.

Aesdale: The small portrait seems a bit squashed. He has the equip to stay alive, but I wish he had "haste" prelearned; still, as the only pure-class mage he's a long-term keeper. I do wonder if his whole charm spell business wouldn't make more sense if he were an Enchanter (which would sort of nerf him, but at low levels the extra spells are v. nice). I find his plot quite intriguing, but it takes too long to learn the backstory -- in fact, you may never learn it. IMO, his first not-very-revealing banter should come when you return from the boat, with the second banter (the full Althon story) on the first rest thereafter.

Blush: Love the portrait. Could use some non-Aesdale banters to solidify her character. Average usefulness. Wish the plot would go somewhere soon-ish.

Althon: Insanely powerful. 92 total stats, full tank gear, and that sword... Give him those gauntlets of dex you get early, and he turns into a 100-stat-point slaughtering machine who has more XP than you. If the sword actually had that mini-Celestial-Fury stunning effect (which I don't think it does, in the code), he'd be way overpowered. As it is, I'd still tone him down a touch (cut STR to 18/43 or so?). His character interactions I like, though, esp. the dynamic with Shadow (as above) and the interactions with plot NPCs. Wish it didn't seem like cheating to use him though.

Rilithar: Will you get him later? As it is, I'd change the sword and armor to Ril-only custom versions so there's no temptation to loot him. (Also, +3!?) He seems more balanced than Althon, though (despite having the same stat total).

General and overall thoughts in the next post.

Edited by flem, 19 February 2006 - 01:36 PM.

[flem]

Incidentally, I like Vildamyr's portrait. It suits him. Rihn, IMO, looks too much like a chipmunk. I don't like her oversized anime-style eyes...

[flem]

Anyway, four general thoughts (see previous post for character-by-character thoughts).

1) Weapon types. Rurik, Blush, Althon, Rilithar, and Rihn come with their own magic melee weapons, with proficiencies to match. The last three have custom weapons as good as anything so far in the game. So that leaves Shadow (short sword), Erky (quarterstaff), Paraway (long sword -- or spear?), Aesdale (dagger), Vildamyr (flail, mace), Dirbert (no melee), and the PC to share the other stuff. Nevertheless, there are lots of long swords, eventually spears (though not for a while -- a spear user will have a rough beginning), and IIRC flails (!), with some of most everything else except two-handeds, katanas, halberds -- and maces.

Some more variety in NPC weapon use would be nice. *Someone* should use those nice axes, war hammers, flails... And of course spears. Also, perhaps the custom weapons shouldn't be the best available. They're not for BG/BG2 NPCs -- regular +1 with a minor bonus seems more in line with that.

2) Banters. Perhaps they're supposed to be spread out over a longer game, but it seems to me I'm not getting too many of the talks while playing. The ones that come in sequence -- Blush/Aesdale, Aesdale/Althon, etc -- might, I think, be auto-triggered on resting or travel or something until done so that they'll come out in time. I suggested one example for Aesdale in the previous post, but it could apply to other stuff -- I realize this is sort of a pain to code, though. Random ones could be pushed to appear on rest, too.

3) Adventurer types. It seems to me the post-Sunless Citadel NPCs are all part of their own story, not necessarily yours. It would be nice to have another random refugee adventurer NPC in Saltmarsh that you could add, or not, for variety. He or she could provide another outsider's perspective on the machinations of the plot.

Also, romance of some sort would be nice, even though it would have to develop slowly along with new parts of the plot opening up. (Probably with a new NPC, though an Althon romance for an evil female PC could be quite interesting...)

4) Party composition. Mages start out useless and get more important, so it's a bit odd that none seem planned after Aesdale. Also, to keep him you have to take Blush (unless she, uh, has an accident I guess), which makes Rurik and/or Vildamyr difficult to use for long unless the PC is a mage. Subbing in a bard hardly seems the same thing, though I'm sure Rihn's more powerful at the moment.

One possibility would be to make one of the human NPCs sufficiently intelligent that (s)he could dual into a mage for later use a la Imoen...

Edited by flem, 19 February 2006 - 01:38 PM.

[leahnkain]

Spoilers
Please highlight




I will try to make sure the weapon proficiencies are varied more.
A2 will drastically change the group?s composition. You will have no choice but to choose to drop someone for good.
Two romances are planned for the PC. If someone could write a romance for Althon which is not cheesy that would be great?Rilithar would be more suitable for a romance because he is the last of the Mistmoor line and probably needs a heir.
Aesdale is not the only mage. There are three others in the works.
Paraway is not part of the Aesdale+Althon storyline. He doesn't really care what is happening between them. He will not side with either one.
Rilithar will be back.

Edited by leahnkain, 19 February 2006 - 06:32 PM.

[leahnkain]

Althon: Insanely powerful. 92 total stats, full tank gear, and that sword... Give him those gauntlets of dex you get early, and he turns into a 100-stat-point slaughtering machine who has more XP than you. If the sword actually had that mini-Celestial-Fury stunning effect (which I don't think it does, in the code), he'd be way overpowered. As it is, I'd still tone him down a touch (cut STR to 18/43 or so?). His character interactions I like, though, esp. the dynamic with Shadow (as above) and the interactions with plot NPCs. Wish it didn't seem like cheating to use him though.

Rilithar: Will you get him later? As it is, I'd change the sword and armor to Ril-only custom versions so there's no temptation to loot him. (Also, +3!?) He seems more balanced than Althon, though (despite having the same stat total).

General and overall thoughts in the next post.

Althon should be overpowering. It makes it easy to drop Paraway to add him. He is CA's Sarevok. He is the strongest NPC of the game. I needed him with a high IQ to explain his planning and plotting. I needed him strong, so everyone wants him in the group. The Cavalier kit requires a high CHA and WIS. His dex is low which does add balance.

Ril will be back. He too has great stats, this is because Paladins have high base minimum stats.

[flem]

Thanks for the hints! I've been going on the old (November) NPC list thread.

[leahnkain]

I am really grateful to Plasmocat, Cyrille and Herd. Vlad also has kindly lent me a picture and made an original picture for me?something to look forward to in the Slaver series. (Actually Plasmocat is the best!) Without her many of the major NPC?s would be without an original picture. I can?t thank her enough.)