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My favorite NPC mods for BG2


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#1 -Midnight-

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 03:33 PM

Hi all, Midnight here, npc mod reviewer and fan of BG series. Todays list is a montage of 11 npc mods I have played and enjoyed for BG2 and would like to recommend to you. Why top 11? Its my tribute to 'that guy with the glasses' -Doug Walker. All mods were rated based on enjoyability and lack of bugs.

Number 11. KIM -by Grenouillebleue and maintained by Akadis at G3- A swashbuckling thief npc you can pick up at thiefs guild if you side with Aran Linval. Moderately bug free but keep fresh saves handy if you romance her-she will throw tons of puzzles/riddles at you and is touchy if you irk her the wrong way on romance replies. She works best with someone of mid lvl goodness-rep neither too high or too low. Basically you cant go wrong trying a solid fighting thief/hot french chick. SoA content only.

Number 10. KETO -by Victoria Joyner aka "Blue", Jason Compton, Bonnie Rutledge and friends at Pocket Plane (PP). Keto is a bard found in the five flagons inn. If you enjoy using Haer'Dalis you will enjoy her. Her stats are avg and she performs as a bard should-the points that really make her stand out is her level of involvement -interaction wise, and personal quests that wrap up in chapter six. A "fun" charector that isnt over blanced, she works best with good groups. Non romanciable as I recall but a feel-good bard npc for a change of pace over Haer'Dalis. SoA content only at this time.

Number 9. TYRIS FLARE -by Grim Squeaker at G3. A tribute to the old Golden Axe game, Tyris Flare is redone as a BG2 npc with back story to explain her presence in the game. Shes a duel class fighter/mage with good skills in long sword, an excellent voice actress and is romancable. Shes not needy/clingly/bitchy like the vanillia npcs are and can work as either a good back up fighter or mage. Great portrait too!-only drawback is SoA content only atm--would have loved to see her in ToB with quests/speaking parts, etc. Havent yet found a bug with her either. Warning about her romance-she can be a bit rough--mild adult content(but fun!). She is an amazon after all.... O.o

Number 8. KELSEY -by Jason Compton and Bonnie Rutledge at PP. Another solid addon, Kelsey is the original answer to girl gamers romance option -esp if you hate Anomen. Hes a sorcerer, very solid, isnt psycho, has quests, supports the main charector without overshadowing him, banters alot, and was very bug free. The mods portrait was kinda Meh to me, but easy enough to shadowkeeper whatever pic you want in that regards. For extra fun, include Anomen in the party too if you are a girl and do the romance.
Kelsey makes an excellent caster for any good party; sorcerers are very flexable too -less spells but can cast they ones they do know alot, just not infravision lol. SoA and ToB content available. Recommend using 'getting rid of anomen' addon too for maximum enjoyment.

Number 7&6. NINAFER AND CALLISTO -by Solaufein at Chosen of Mystra(CoM). Part of the Undying Mod, Ninafer is an elven fighter/mage multiclass -provides a stable seconday tank/caster with fair stats and background story. Callisto though stole the show and rank 6 spot though by being friggin bad ass. Uses voice clips from the Xena tv show, she is protrayed here in the bg2 world as much the same evil villian she was in Xena -an evil warlord. She mysteriously decides to follow the main charector around on his/her quests and can be picked up very early in the game. Shes a fighter -beserker subclass and can work with good or evil parties (try her with aerie if you really want to have fun). I wont give away spoilers but she will give you a fun bg2 experience and unexpected ending to her story. Callisto suffers one drawback you need to know about-she hates drow. She wont work with any drow npc at all-keep that in mind when makeing a party. Both npcs are part of the undying mod, which is very bug free, gives new shopkeepers, items, quests, and encounters. I highly recommend this mod even if you dont like the 2 npcs. SoA content only atm I believe.

Number 5. TASHIA -by Tashia and lord Ernie of spellhold studios(shs). To me, Tashia was the female equivelent of Kelsey, a good, solid Sorcerer npc you can pick up fairly early in the Trademeet inn. Shes romancable, works in both Soa and ToB content, has a good voice actress, witty riddles/poems/love talks and works best with a good group. Shes getting over an Ex BF, so has some issues in that regards, but otherwise was fun to play. She comes with a pet panther/magic item she can use once per day that was kinda overpowered but not more so than the upgraded spider figurine and/or horn of the vahalla. Her lovetalk music was very nice, and while she had one or two bugs I saw, overall shes enjoyable to the point where she has multiple replay vaule. SoA and Tob Content.

Number 4. FADE -by Mistress Elysia and Silmarien of spellhold studios(shs). Oh Fade, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... :P. Fade is without a doubt, my favorite thief mod out there. Shes a tiefling rogue (unkitted) found in Aran Linvals area of the shadowthieves hideout. Working with the shadowthieves opens her up to you. She hates slavers with a passion, wears tight leather and is a hot redhead with a good heart. Fun romance option of course, and works well with a good party that doesnt mind a rogue with kleptomania. I found FADE to be very bug free but occasionally had a problem with some spawns, and the quest to "unvampire" her in chapter six was very difficult if you dont know where to go. All in all though, I strongly recommend her as a very fun rogue mod you can use again and again for BG2 runs. SoA content only atm (cant wait for tob content though).

Number 3. YASRAENA -by Nethrin & Sillara of CoM. Yasraena is a female Drow fighter you can find at the exit of the opening dungeon. She comes equiped with 2 custom short swords and excellent skills to use them. Unlike most drow, shes good, so will work best with non evil groups of course. She has some quests, lots of interactions with the vanilla npcs, and has a fairly good story line. She isnt romancable though (that maybe a little unclear the first time through). Shes not completely bug free-but have tried her in multiple runs and overall is workable. Her weapons will upgrade in tob which is handy. She has one of the best portraits of all npcs Ive seen thus far, and is voice acted fairly well. A very good stright tank mod if you are tired of Minsc for a good based party. SoA and ToB content.

Number 2. TSUJATHA -by Sillara of the Tamari (CoM). Tsujatha is my favorite caster mod hands down. Hes a elf from another world than that of Fauraun, an evil necromancer who will romance good females(!).
He has no problems using the powers of death and darkness, but he holds in high regard those who promote honor and virtue-truely a paradigm. For maximum play vaule, use a female main coupled with lawful good priest or paladin class and do his romance. He can work with most evil vanilla npcs (not all though -be careful) and especially well with lawful good types like Keldorn. Hes such an interesting mix of evil and virtue that I find him enjoyable, playthrough after playthrough. He provides a good quest, mix of powers and commentaries that hes sure to enhance anyones game time and again. No bugs that Ive found; he reminds me of what Darth Vader would be if he was in the bg2 universe--a being absolutely evil yet with a trace of honor and nobility you cant help respect. SoA and ToB content.

Number 1. Sarelith -Sillara and Nethrin (CoM). What can I say? Sarelith is hands down the best npc mod I personally have ever used for bg2 and tob. I enjoy Sillara & Nethrin's scripting style-Sarelith is amazingly complex and deep-almost bug free and so fun to play again and again. A 15 year old paladin of Tyr that is romancable-most contraversy is on this point alone. But if you can over look this and remember its a game, she is extremely fun. What really makes this mod work isnt her stats/gear/skill sets -all of which are subpar, but her amazing social interactions and storyline. She will interact with you and the party -alot!- but thats part of her charm. For me, npc interaction is the heart and soul of the baldurs gate series; it already has a great story of its own, but the intereactions of your party is part of that experience, and in this regards, Sarelith is professionally integrated into your story. I keep coming back to her time after time and I never get tired of her when making a party; the best "feel good" mod out there. Its not without its flaws I'll admit, but Ill take Sarelith over other mods out there any day of the week, making her my number 1 mod pick of all time! SoA & ToB content.

Quick facts-havent played all mods out there (yet); I usually run x2 npcs though soa/tob twice before I feel I can comment on them. I still got on my to-do list for bg2 the following npcs--
Kido, Ariena, Xulaye, the Luxleys, Kiven and Deheriana, Nah'Taniel, Chloe, Amber, Nikitalleria, Valen, and Solaufein. The favorite 11 list is of course just my opinion, and you are free to agree or disagree as you wish. These arent full reviews of course, just my personal favorites list I recommend to other gamers. If I got mod credits wrong btw, I do appologize now.
-Midnight
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Edited by K'aeloree, 25 June 2010 - 05:17 PM.
Title edit.


#2 Ipsissimus

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 04:51 PM

Funny, I disagree with most of your choices. I liked...let's see...Keto. Of course, I haven't played Kim, Tyris, Ninafer/Callisto, Tashia, or Fade, but my own mod NPC preferences seem quite different from yours. Irenicus from Longer Road, Keto, Angelo, Xan, Xulaye, Sarah, Auren, and the Luxleys are my personal favorites, but I still prefer the Bioware characters.

Edit: though as I mostly play female characters and still romance Anomen, that probably destroys my credibility :P

Edited by Ipsissimus, 25 June 2010 - 04:54 PM.

And the mirror, it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy overcoat and swaddled in
A furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice
-- "Nothing's gonna change my clothes", They Might Be Giants

#3 Kaeloree

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 05:08 PM

Can you edit your topic title to reflect the fact that these are the top 11 NPC mods in your opinion? I think new users would appreciate it--I would.

#4 Ipsissimus

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 05:11 PM

Guests can't edit their posts, can they?

Incidentally, Midnight, I believe Saerilith is "Saerilith" not "Sarelith."
And the mirror, it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy overcoat and swaddled in
A furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice
-- "Nothing's gonna change my clothes", They Might Be Giants

#5 Kaeloree

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 05:17 PM

Ahh, right. Well, edited, then. Sorry, Midnight :)

#6 -Midnight-

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Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:11 PM

Guests can't edit their posts, can they?

Incidentally, Midnight, I believe Saerilith is "Saerilith" not "Sarelith."

Opps your totally right; guess I need to spell check better---my bad :P. Also yeah, this was just a list of personal favorites I wanted to share. The only factors I used in my list was dependable mod without little to no bugs, enjoyable to interact with and has a replay vaule to it. All subjective of course. Ill do my best to better reflect that in future post titles.

#7 Daxs

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Posted 03 July 2010 - 01:55 PM

Personally, I HATED Saerileth and most of the Nethrin/Sillara mods. I'm probably going to get some flak for this, but even still.

The reason follows that of most people: I am not going to Play Saerileth's Gate: Saerileth of Saerileth! The writing is... well, she dies of a broken heart!!! This writing would be laughable if it didn't take itself seriously.

The age thing I don't care about, as long as she's believable. Even if her age weren't shoved down anyone's throat, it's still a very selfish mod.

Their mods pretty much force your path a lot more than other mods, and stand out as mods like a sore thumb.

I disgree heavily with this list. Kelsey yes I can see because he tries to actually fit the mold of a character and fit in with what characters do. He doesn't even have any parenthetical actions... which I hate in any mod to be honest: what happens if you plug them into an Edwin dialogue?

Sadly none of the Tutu NPCs are there, mainly Finch, whose awesome because she's not a cliche gnome in a game where the short don't get enough rep. Mur'neth is also really intriguing.

#8 Ipsissimus

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Posted 03 July 2010 - 02:23 PM

I second that, actually. The Tutu NPCs are all pretty great. But on Midnight's list, as I said above, Keto and Kelsey are pretty much the only ones I agree with.

But I think that a lot of players prefer characters that "stand out" to some degree. Saerilith is the only Chosen of Tyr the PC will ever meet, and Tsu-whatshisname is the only 6-foot elf with golden skin and silken hair from another plane. And some might argue that Keto, Kelsey, and Gavin are all "just another human," or that Finch is "just another cleric." With the huge number of mods for the Baldur's Gate saga, some modders, I think, feel that their characters have to be special somehow. The problem is when characters then "stand out" as badly-written Sues and Stus. Naming no names, there are a number of mods that I didn't even finish playing once, and I still remember them as collections of character-bashing, bad writing, abuse of action text, and uber-Sue/Stu characters.

Edit: Besides, the real problem isn't Saerilith's Gate, it's "Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Emo." Xan is the only depressed character I can tolerate, and at least in that case, it's actual depression, not just poorly-justified angst due to a TRAGIC backstory. Blargh.

Edited by Ipsissimus, 03 July 2010 - 02:25 PM.

And the mirror, it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy overcoat and swaddled in
A furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice
-- "Nothing's gonna change my clothes", They Might Be Giants

#9 princesspurpleblob

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Posted 03 July 2010 - 07:51 PM

I don't agree with most of your list, Midnight but that's upto personal taste. I disliked most of Sillara's mod simply because they were overpowered for no good reason. And it overly emphasises *MY MODDED CHAR IS SO IMPORTANT!!! LOOOOK!!! HELP HIM/HER* Only one I really liked was Tsujatha (mainly due to romance) and I'm rather interested in Hubblepot which I might try out sometime. But I disliked Yasraena and Saerileth.

My most favourite NPC mods were Kelsey, Tsujatha and Xan (in order).

Edited by princesspurpleblob, 03 July 2010 - 07:55 PM.


#10 Ipsissimus

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Posted 03 July 2010 - 09:43 PM

Overpowered? Combat-wise Saerilith was extremely weak. Tsujatha was horribly overpowered, and some of the items in the romance were even worse. I was playing a Drow wizardslayer thanks to a subrace mod, so in ToB my PC had about 90% magic resistance. Insane. And the fact that he had to *protect* my PC...kinda creeped me out, frankly. I vaguely recall Tsujatha killing one of Sendai's drow because they were supposed to challenge my PC. My problem with Tsujatha was that he was apparently "redeemed by the love of a good woman" and no matter how it's written...it's just cliche, and I simply couldn't get over that. But to each their own, I suppose.
And the mirror, it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy overcoat and swaddled in
A furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice
-- "Nothing's gonna change my clothes", They Might Be Giants

#11 Cal Jones

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Posted 04 July 2010 - 12:03 AM

There are a lot of good NPCs I've not played because I generally only play the mods that have a ToB component. I did play Keto, however, as it had so many good recommendations.

My favourite NPC mod is Angelo. I have mixed feelings about his background (he isn't really the character I'd imagined Angelo from BG1 to be) but he is an awesome character in his own right and his ending got a pretty strong emotional response from me, which is a rarity in a game, let alone a mod. More to the point it's a very complete mod, with side quests, banters, items and a different way of solving the Bodhi abduction, and it's well written.

Second is definitely Xan. Now as a rule I don't like elves but it's a great mod with a load of content (three quests, loads of banters, even with obscure NPCs you wouldn't normally talk to, two romance paths, and so on and so forth). You can spec him as a different type of mage (in fact I always spec him as a sorcerer) so he's more useful - if I'm playing a mostly good party I now find I use Xan rather than trying to get Edwin to play nice with my other characters. The only downside is that Xan will only romance elves. I had to make an elf (ugh) to try it out, but it was worth it, actually.

I also like Kivan. He was always a must have character in BG1 so I appreciate the mod. He has a friendship path in SoA and a romance in ToB (depending on how you deal with the dead wife stuff in SoA). My slight reservation is that Domi's writing can be a bit dramatic (as with the IWD2 NPCs, which I also love, incidentally) and sometimes I look at the possible responses to a talk and scratch my head because I wouldn't say any of them. But that's a relatively small thing, really. It's a good mod, regardless.

Nathaniel I enjoyed - there aren't many gay mods out there and this is pretty well done. He's not a mincing queen, just a normal young man with a few issues. He won't romance thieves or certain aligments (you must be good or LN - or a druid). One of the few I've actually played more than once.

Keto deserves its praise - again a good mod. (It doesn't play nicely with the Edwin romance mod, though, so bear that in mind). Lots of content, lots of banters (especially if you have Kelsey as well). The drawback is that it's SoA only.

Kelsey is actually a very good mod. He's well integrated with the game, has quests, banters, good voicing - I'm just not massively keen on him as a romance. The SoA portion wasn't bad but by ToB he was getting needy and desparate - it's not out of character as he fears he'll lose the PC when she ascends to godhood, but it's a real turn off. I also didn't care for the epilogues - particularly if you stay with him you end up
Spoiler
.

Tsujatha - or should I say Stu-jatha? I resisted this one for a while, thinking I'd hate it (a brooding six foot six elf with golden eyes? Gimme a break!) I'd run out of good romanceabe males to try at this point so eventually downloaded him. To be fair, I actually enjoyed the mod more than I expected to. It's well crafted enough but I think it's aimed at girlier girls than I.

Kido is quite an interesting character for an evil party - he's fairly well fleshed out and has his own quest, plus ToB content. However, his voice takes some getting used to. Anyone who's played this will know what I mean.

Rylock - downloaded this as I was doing an evil playthrough and liked the idea of a blackguard. I have to say I was disappointed. The writing is terrible and one of his subquests didn't fire. Also has no ToB content that I could discern.

Longer Road mod - this is a very ambitious mod, and having Irenicus in party is pretty cool. He's very difficult to win round and it's very easy to mess up by saying the wrong thing. ToB only, and has a large component in Watcher's Keep. It really adds a new dimension to the game if you're a bit stale on it.
However, it's a bit sloppy in places - lots of typos in the converstions which is a little immersion breaking. (Unless it's been cleaned up since then, of course).

Hubelpot - I liked this mod a lot, although it's not as high on content as most (he was a one day NPC after all). It's nice to have a relatively ordinary character along. I would definitely give him a try if you haven't.

Although not NPC mods I also really enjoy the Edwin romance and the Sarevok ToB romance.

#12 Aliya

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Posted 09 July 2010 - 05:56 AM

Tsujatha for me is another-elven-cold-equivalent for Tw's Edward. This irritated me,(I personally HATE TWILIGHT) and I characterized him as 'another-bada$$failed-romance'. He is a such Gary-Stu character, that I mean, c'mon even Edwin has fears. I really bellowed, when he and Edwin were bantering with double-parenthesis. OMG, I was so pi$$ed-off, when I was trying to decipher it. Plus, he has bad quality soundset, that made ears bleed. Tyris on other hand, has a nearly perfect soundset. :D

Yasry has a nice, but not perfect soundset. But I really enjoyed playing with her. She was so mature and composed, that drifted Viconia on the wall, eventually. :shifty:

#13 -JR-

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Posted 12 July 2010 - 09:57 PM

Besides, the real problem isn't Saerilith's Gate, it's "Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Emo." Xan is the only depressed character I can tolerate, and at least in that case, it's actual depression, not just poorly-justified angst due to a TRAGIC backstory. Blargh.

Amen. An actual mental illness instead of author-inflicted emotional damage.

Angelo is by far my favorite NPC. And he gets even more points in my mind because I was so skeptical going in that I almost skipped him entirely. It wasn't how I (or anyone outside of SisterVigilante) pictured Angelo at all, but its originality and feel of authenticity blew the original "character" out of the water for me.

Xan and Kivan are also some of my favorites. I love the characters, always have. And with a few barely consequential details that I can't even remember off the top of my head, I love the way they were portreyed in BG2.

I also really enjoy Auren, Sarah, and a bunch of others that I'm probably making authors sad by forgetting. :(

Finch! That's one of them! I've been trying to contact Bons for a while now for permission to include Finch in a fanfiction, but PPG is having some trouble responding to my registration attempts.

I've decided that I like the Saerilith mod; it gets a lot of flak, but I thought it was thorough, well-constructed, and interesting. However, it just didn't fit into the game. It was overly romanticised, which in itself isn't innately bad, but Baldur's Gate has always been... darker. Grittier. Though I suppose it could be argued that her divergence from established planetary/dimensional norms was one of her themes... Oh well. I liked the mod, but I wouldn't consider including her in any fanfiction or "personal-canon" playthroughs like I would with all of the aforementioned characters.

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." - C.S. Lewis


#14 Daxs

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Posted 12 July 2010 - 10:59 PM

Saerileth's problem is that the mod controls you! If you don't do exactly what she wants. You side with theives or Vampires: no soup for you! Can't convince the drow not to sex you? I'mma die of heartbreak! You have 15 charisma? You is ugly, ugly face!

Thou swine! She does speaketh dost wrongethly and ye worst part beith that it art spoken... ETH! I've seen newcomers to Shakespeare speak better olde English than Saerileth does!


I must be one of the few who doesn't like Kivan. Maybe it's the whole revival arc. Maybe it was way back when back when I was too young to vote or realize lotsa mods weren't always great and when the century was still in its infancy: the idea seemed more like there'd be something like NPC romance... I don't remember if the idea was Aerie or Viconia or if it was in debate, but the point is, that seemed cool: he'd learn to move on and he would just fine.

And then a long time later, I played him. I remember Kivan being a silent type, gruff and with no time for BS and the first thing he says when I see him is... Tampa: I'm going to say it's Elvish, but I was guffawed by his difference in speach patterns being so vast.

He also had a lot of words to say. Maybe he had a big life and personality changing event between the two games... still, his soundset filled with grunts and short words seems offset by his dialogue.


Personally, to me, Kelsey is the ideal mod.

It's not because Kelsey is well written (he's not bad) but to me, he is the ideal formula of interaction: he has a quest or 2, banters with the crew; not too much or too few, he has a few items and his romance isn't demanding. He also doesn't have something to say about every non playable NPC you run into!


In short: Kelsey is the mod that wants to NOT be a mod by trying to fit in rather than be too different. Not saying that to deviate at all is bad, but sometimes, it gets a bit confusing and possibly jarring.

It is, the mod that a newcomer to the game would least suspect of being too different.


To me, that is nice because has the feel of the game.


Before anyone asks, I'm wearing Red Dragon Plate and two rings of Fire resistance.

Edited by Daxs, 12 July 2010 - 11:28 PM.


#15 Zyraen

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Posted 12 July 2010 - 11:30 PM

@Daxs
Cheers on the Kelsey Mod ! :) my all time favs are Kelsey and Keto for most part, except the Anomen bashing.

I enjoyed Saerileth, but only when it suited my character. It weirded me out that I had to be goody 2 shoes to fit her bill ( or usually something bad happens ).

The only one thing that really bugged me was ye olde English. I'm no expert with it, but I had some difficulty deciphering some of her stuff. I wonder if anyone would write a modern English version of her, I'm sure I'd enjoy that tremendously and it would fit in a lot better with BG2. Oh that and her voicing is a tad low, that probably can't be helped.

Still, in terms of forcing your actions, its not as bad as say, an NPC that when you select an option to ask one of two questions, you get with a (You move your lips but no sound comes out, you are so overwhelmed by the force of her sexuality) and you get back the same two options. I was like.. OUCH! No names since its probably fixed by now, it was a really old version.

Other mods I enjoyed were Tashia and Imoen Romance Mod, though the dreams were a little jarring. In terms of seamlessness though, Keto and Kelsey take the cake, hands down.

Good ones I've enjoyed over the years are Valen, without a doubt (I recall her drain level claws penetrate stoneskin! :) and dragons burn against them) and just love it when she munches innocents all on her sweet adorable self... and Solaufein on one run, was entertaining but not the sort I'd try more than once.

That being said, I haven't tried most of the recent mods. I'd say I'm busy modding, but that's not true ;) lol

Edited by Zyraen, 12 July 2010 - 11:36 PM.

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#16 -JR-

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Posted 13 July 2010 - 12:00 AM

Saerileth's problem is that the mod controls you! If you don't do exactly what she wants. You side with theives or Vampires: no soup for you! Can't convince the drow not to sex you? I'mma die of heartbreak! You have 15 charisma? You is ugly, ugly face!

Yeah, it definitely railroads you into a Saerileth's Gate situation. It's not ideal, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. Like I said, it's not a favorite, but I appreciate the thought and work that went into it.

About the drow though... To be fair, a lot of people would freak out like no other if they were cheated on by a supposedly eternally dedicated partner. I know if it happened to me I'd probably end up leaving quite a scar on the earth, quickly burning out, and waking up in prison or hell. Not that it would be impossible for me to forgive the partner if I lived long enough, but even in a modern setting a few people still exist who are not laid back when it comes to the idea of faithfulness and basic respect for your lover. And I can only imagine trends towards that would be intensified in a somewhat medieval setting, despite the relatively liberal mindsets of fantasy vs real life in that time period.

The charisma thing did bother me a lot. "You're beautiful, so I'll love you forever," right from the start lent a really shallow feeling to the romance. I tried to get into it, tried to immerse my thought processes in the world the mod invented, but my mind kept coming back to that.

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." - C.S. Lewis


#17 Headbanger

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Posted 13 July 2010 - 09:43 AM

English speakers may want to try the new Ascalons Breagar when it comes out.

#18 Ipsissimus

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Posted 13 July 2010 - 11:37 AM

What irked me about Saerilith was the whole "OMG I'm fifteen, but <PC> will be my true love, and we'll be together forever, and I'll have ten kids, and..." Patently absurd. I was fifteen when I played the mod, and for the most part, teenagers simply don't think that way. Teenage immortality and all that.

And the bit where Saerilith's stalker steals the PC's charisma-enhancing items...creepy. Seriously. "I love her more than you ever could, so watch as she falls magically out of love with you as soon as she realizes you aren't pretty. Saerilith will be mine MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Indeed--shallow. I have high standards, but I don't think it's unreasonable to want more from a romance mod than "you're pretty, I'm pretty, you're special, I'm SPESHUL." I find it slightly ironic (though still unpleasant) that Saerilith's forums were once spammed with shock porn.

However, Tsujatha still irks me far more. Aliya is quite right about this. At least the mod is mostly bug-free, even if multi-class characters are, oddly, considered single-class characters.

@ Headbanger: Any info you could link me to?
And the mirror, it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy overcoat and swaddled in
A furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice
-- "Nothing's gonna change my clothes", They Might Be Giants

#19 Cal Jones

Cal Jones
  • Modder
  • 1168 posts

Posted 13 July 2010 - 09:06 PM

I've never played Saeri - I just didn't like the sound of her at all.

But I was reminded of Solaufein - I'd forgotten all about him. No, I didn't like that mod. I'm not a fan of OTT tactics-type stuff and his battles were ridiculous. When the spiders turned up I was reduced to Ctrl-Y spamming.
As for the character, hmm. Well I can't fault it from a technical point of view, but he really just bored me. He's about the only character that I got to ToB and thought "I can't be bothered with this."

#20 Headbanger

Headbanger
  • Member
  • 30 posts

Posted 14 July 2010 - 06:03 AM

What irked me about Saerilith was the whole "OMG I'm fifteen, but <PC> will be my true love, and we'll be together forever, and I'll have ten kids, and..." Patently absurd. I was fifteen when I played the mod, and for the most part, teenagers simply don't think that way. Teenage immortality and all that.

And the bit where Saerilith's stalker steals the PC's charisma-enhancing items...creepy. Seriously. "I love her more than you ever could, so watch as she falls magically out of love with you as soon as she realizes you aren't pretty. Saerilith will be mine MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Indeed--shallow. I have high standards, but I don't think it's unreasonable to want more from a romance mod than "you're pretty, I'm pretty, you're special, I'm SPESHUL." I find it slightly ironic (though still unpleasant) that Saerilith's forums were once spammed with shock porn.

However, Tsujatha still irks me far more. Aliya is quite right about this. At least the mod is mostly bug-free, even if multi-class characters are, oddly, considered single-class characters.

@ Headbanger: Any info you could link me to?


No... I do not.
But patience is a virtue... Good things come to those who wait.
It is not always easy to release a software project sometimes things do happen.