Thinking about starting again

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:07 pm

It's been so long since I played either of the BG games, but I just started a BG game last night. I'm going for an evil party and characters I've never used before so it should be fun, but I was browsing for some cool potential portraits when I came across the perfect kensai portrait. So I wanna start BGII again, but this time with a Kensai (which I've never even given thought to on earlier run-throughs). My only problem with this is, What NPC's to use, if at all? I'm just wondering which NPC's would go good with a LN outcast samurai who's been stripped of everything but his sword and has been wandering aimlessly in search of those who cowardly had him discharged for fear of being revealed as dishonourable thieves. Well, what do you think? Who if anyone should I bring along? I don't really have too many issues modifying present NPC's to fit my needs. I'm thinking one or mabye two companions. But what I'm mainly looking for is the personality to match up well. The class can be decided later, but some thoughts as to what class would go well would also help. I was thinking some type of Ranger (Archer or Beastmaster) and/or an Avenger. All classes I have little to no experience with, so this should be a good yet challenging game.

P.S. I don't want to use all PCs because that makes for a very boring game.

Adahn · Post by **Adahn** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:34 pm

When I an evil party the best thing to do is to get all the bad guys lol.

That means, Your Charachter [Insert Name Here] ; A Cleric [Viconia] ; A Warrior [Korgan] ; A Mage [Edwin] and maybe a Rogue [Yoshimo] Would be a pretty good choise since he's Chaotic Neutral. And later *Spoiler* When you play Throne of Bhaal, get SAREVOK he's a super warrior ^^ + he's technically your brother, so you get all that evil bonding thing done. Brother to brother... yours in life and death!

Numinor · Post by **Numinor** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:44 pm

Yoshimo is True Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral. I think Haer'Dalis is a good coice for an evil party, too.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 6:05 pm

What about Valen? Tends to get too powerful in the later stages, but she's a finely developed chaotic evil vampire with some good dialog. Best of all, she's in a Weimer WeiDU mod, which means a certain level of compatibility with many other mods.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:07 pm

OK, now that I read my post it is a bit confusing. My BG game is an evil party and that's all been worked out, but my BGII party I just started with my new Kensai(first time running one of these, and they're not as bad as I thought) is a non-evil party. Well that said I just made it out of the dungeon with Jaheira, Yoshimo, and my Kensai. Minsc was a little too much for someone trying to make his way out without bringing too much attention to himself so I left him. What I need is personalities more than classes. Who would go good with a veteran samurai? I wanna change Jahs into an Avenger because I think it fits her a bit more, and maybe make Yoshimo a swashbuckler, assassin or dual him to a fighter, and have him be a bow user. Other thoughts might be Mazzy, keeping her as is, or Valygar maybe turning him into an archer/beastmaster. But who to use for magic, or do I even need a spellcaster? I've never gone without one so I'm not really sure how well it would go. I wish there were better NPC's that were not so over the top personality wise. Any thoughts please.

Here's a the picture that inspired me to make my kensai if that helps at all.

Adahn · Post by **Adahn** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:52 am

Originally posted by Numinor
Yoshimo is True Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral. I think Haer'Dalis is a good coice for an evil party, too.

He's true neutral? o.o I forgot hehe

()

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 6:19 am

Well, playing without a mage is indeed a challenge but it can be done.

How about adding Haer'Dalis? He's good, but he's not über. He can cast magic but he's certainly not a full mage. And he can cast from high level scrolls if need be. And since you're not above using SK, you might like to change him into a skald, give him a (cross-)bow and let him do his stuff from the sidelines.

I wouldn't change Jaheira though. I did it once too but it never felt right. Besides, she'll become very powerful at higher levels.

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 8:06 am

I'm currently using that picture for Yoshimo, Skuld

I would certainly advice Dalis. He can be a great fighter if you use his abilities and spells the right way.
How about bringing Tashia or Kelsey (both mod's) along? They are both sorcerers, so they will hold there ground well enough, plus they have interesting personalities.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 9:24 am

I just listened to a bunch of sounds from haer'dalis and valygar via nearinfinity and I think they might work ok. Haer'dalis would definately work better with my character as a Skald(and I haven't used him since my first run though the game, and he was great then), and Valygar(never used him before) maybe a Beast Master or an Archer. Well he hates cities and he hates magic, so the beastmaster make sense with him not liking cities, and he hates magic so why should he be able to use it, even in a severely limited sense. Either an archer or a Beastmaster would be fun because I've never played either of them. But as for personalities Valygar fits quite well as does Cernd. Well I think that settles it, PC Kensai, Yoshimo (will I really need a thief after he's gone), Valygar (as some form of Ranger TBA), Cernd (probably Avenger due to his role in the whole druid grove mess), and Haer'Dalis as a Skald because a worn party such as this is always in need of an uplifting battle song. Now for what to make both Valygar and Cernd and what to do about a thief once Yoshimo's gone.

Oh, and Kelsey and Tashia. I don't have TOB so Tashia's out of the question, and I've used Kelsey extensively. Besides I don't think he blends well personalitywise. Thanks for the thought though. Are there any good NPC thief mods out there?

Eternal Winter · Post by **Eternal Winter** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:12 pm

I think you should play multiplayer mode.And with some WeiDU
mods you can add an anti paladin and Valen to your party.With this you can have a real EVIL party.You can even get Viconia
to your party as a cleric.She has a high magic resistance and her weaknesses can easily overcomed by righteous magic and draw upon holy might.She is in my party and dual vielding the crom faery and aegis fang.She really rocks!!More over even she is evil she can cast holy smite.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:43 pm

I thought I clarified that my BGII game is NOT an evil party!!! I have swapped the NPC Silverstar in for Yoshimo since he won't be permanent anyway, now all I have to do is figure out how to change her damn portrait, because her's sucks. I made one, but it just isn't on the list in SK. Weird. So my Party's gonna be PC Kensai, Silverstar(can you rename NPCs without causing problems?), Haer'Dalis, and Cernd. I seem to be having problems changing NPCs to different classes/kits in SK. I tried changing Yoshimo to an assassin, but he kept his special snare and didn't pick up poison weapon yet on the character record screen it changed from Bounty Hunter to Assassin. I hope I can get this figured out or my whole plan will be foiled.

And in my first post I specifically stated that I wasn't gonna use all PCs because that would make for a boring party.

And on a better note I found that the Elven Mage paper doll works just fine for me. At least something is going right.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:27 pm

About the portait: did you save it as a bmp-file? The game doesn't allow you to use jpg-files.

About Valygar and changing him to a Beastmaster: this kits uses magic as well (summon animals or whatever) so roleplayingwise it wouldn't be totally right. Why not leave him unchanged? The Stalker is a very useful and powerful and versatile kit.

As for changing Yoshimo's kit:
- First go to 'abilities' and remember his current level. Then change his level to zero.
- Go to 'characteristics' and change Yoshimo's kit to assassin.
- Then go to 'innate'. You can remove the trap abilities (if you want, you don't have to). Go to 'kit' and add the assassin kit. The game will allow you to give any char the kit abilities from lvl 1 to 100. Now you have to choose: if you choose 1 - 100 you'll get a lot of those assassin abilities. If you don't want to unbalance the character, choose just level 1. For the same reason you can go to 'thieves' and set all thieving abilities to zero.
- Restart the game, Yoshimo will automatically level up to the level that matches his xp.

This way, you can add about any kit ability or spell or innate ability you want. I have to warn you though: it's very tempting to give a char a whole truckload of special abilities (just imagine a fighter with barbarian and berserker rage, called shot, draw upon holy might, quivering palm etc.) but in the end it makes for a boring game.

Eternal Winter · Post by **Eternal Winter** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:45 pm

In fact,yes it is boring to play with multiplayer because characters have no dialogue.But I am playing with my home-mate with two computers and it is really very enjoyable.We give importance to role play.He controls the main character.In dungeons I use my thief to hide in shadows and explore the map.When I came back give him the details about the situation then we act together.If you have the opportunity to try this kind of game never miss it.It takes too much time but the atmosphere is great and the game really rocks.He even told my characters that they are not have to follow him to hell.At the time he asked it to my Half-orc fighter I really wanted to die and take my place at the Halls of Valhalla!!!

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:01 pm

Well I dropped Yoshimo since he's not a permanent NPC, and picked up Silver Star. But I hate her portrait and the one I made won't show up on the list of portraits in SK. And yes they're the right sizes and they're both 16 bit bitmaps. And about changing Valygar to a beastmaster I think it fits the whole anti-magic thing better because I wouldn't consider summoning various animals magic in the same sense that wizard spells are magic. Does that make any sense? I also downloaded another Thief kit: Sharpshooter, and I was wondering if there was a way I could change Silver Star to that kit via SK or any other utility.