Isn't it surprising with all the romances... (serious discussion, disclaimer inside)

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:05 am

... that all of the non-mod romance characters have levels in divine spellcasting classes? Aerie, Anomen, and Viconia have levels in the Cleric class, and Jaheira has levels in the Druid class.

Were Black Isle intending something in part with such a match in classes for the normal romantic characters, or is it just pure coincidence?

Disclaimer: I did check for such a thread through the search function. No luck. Also, can we PLEASE try to keep this discussion as serious as possible?

Volever · Post by **Volever** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:55 am

Possible spoilers lie within

Well, if it is true that Hal'deris was supposed to be a romance option for a female PC, then I would have to say it is just a coincidence since to my knowledge, Blades cant cast priest spells.

But as is, for the females at least, I think it is just a coincidence. Since only elves, humans, and half-elves are romancable anyway (or so I have been told, I dont play any races other then those so I can neither confirm nor deny that), that disqualifies Mazzy right off the bat. Imoen is your sister, so that would be wierd and wrong. Nalia, while a technically viable option, doesnt really seem like the type to be romanced. She is already engaged (albeit an arranged deal), and she just doesnt seem like the type that would get invovled in a romance.

I dont know much about the male characters, since I usually use the same three all the time. Minsc is Minsc, and he seems more interested in protecting ladies then having romantic relations with them. Jan is a gnome, and therefore is not eligible. Besides, who would want to start a romance with an oddball like him? Then there is Yoshimo, who I guess would be alright if it wasnt for the fact he left halfway through the game. And while I have never used him, I hear Keldorn has a storyline involving a wife, so I would guess he would be out of the romancing curcuit as well by default

So yeah, overall, I think it is just the way things played out. If there was a purpose to using priest only characters, I did not see it

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:30 pm

I have been wondering about that too. The only thing I can come up with is that romancable npc's have to fit in your party, classwise. If your pc is, for example, a thief, you're not going to add another thief to your party, even if she/he comes with the romance option.
I guess the designers figured priests would be the least popular choice for pc's and that's why they made the romancable npc's priests so they'd most likely fit in your party.

Aqua-chan · Post by **Aqua-chan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:08 pm

Also to be taken into consideration is the major inconvenience it is when Bodhi abducts your romance interst - likely your only priest - just before you enter her crypts.

Qwinn · Post by **Qwinn** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:01 pm

It does seem inarguably true that the male black isle game designers seemed to have a peculiar obsession with elven priestesses... beyond that, I'm guessing Anomen also being a priest was just a coincidence, heh.

Qwinn

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:23 pm

In D&D, clerics are kind of blah. You want to have one around for healing and undead, and yes some of their spell selections can be managed to work kinda like mage offensive and defensive spells, but on the whole they don't make very good compelling Hero material. Therefore, it was a pretty good gamble that players would leave the obligatory cleric slot to an NPC they'd add along the way, and, hey, presto, romance!

The all-elven priestess thing is a curious coincidence, though, yes.

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:29 pm

It also might be worth noting that most of the romance mods are ALSO for spellcasting types, although I know that for Tashia and for my own Kelsey character, the selection of sorcerer had an awful lot to do with "there isn't one in the game already."

Deadalready · Post by **Deadalready** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 12:16 am

I'm also betting that the guys at Black Isle originally planned to have some sort of lovers script where if the main character was dying the priest lover person would pull a heal out their pocket and save you.