Romances

kelrynn · Post by **kelrynn** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:04 am

Hi all,

I can't decide what romance to do for my character. What romance meets my qualifications, Mods are included of course.

1. Must be for a male human Ranger.
2. Must have little to no bugs.
3. Must follow my character into Throne of Bhaal.
4. Must be well written.

I heard that the jaheira and Nalia romances are too buggy.

Thanks

krunchyfrogg · Post by **krunchyfrogg** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:53 am

Go with Jaheira, Aerie, or Viconia, depending on party composition.

Any other romance will be from a Mod for you, and I just don't trust them.

Arch_Angel · Post by **Arch_Angel** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:34 am

Aerie is probably the most straight forward that continues on to TOB with some nice surprises

But a lot of people can't put up with her whining all the time. *hint* Don't rush into anything major with her.

There's one scene in particular that I won't spoil, the voice acting done for Aeirie was incredibly well done. Really jerks on the heart strings

Viconia is slightly more tricky but still relitively easy to follow through, but I enjoyed the Aerie one a bit more - I'm a sucker for the knight in shining armour/protector routine

The Jaheira romance is well known to be buggy. There are patches you can get that will help it run more smoothly and most of those tend to work. The Jaheira romance isn't all that difficult, it's the bugs that stop most people from going for it.

I've done both the Imoen and Sola romance mods (can be found in the sticky pages up top). The Imoen one wasn't too bad, but I didn't agree with a lot of the dialogue choices and the way that the creators expanded her character in a lot of ways. Other parts of it I did like, it had its merits but had too many things that didn't feel quite "right" in my opinion.

The Sola romance wasn't too bad but a little long winded for my tastes. Very well writen and thought out, but didn't quite have the excitement of some of the others.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:46 pm

I can't recall if she has ToB content, but I've heard very good things about the Tashia romance. As far as the in-game romances go, while it is buggy, most people I've talked to consider Jaheira's romance to be the most interesting of the group, but of course this is always subjective

You might also want to take a look at these pages which give an extensive list of the various NPC mods out there. (icludes romanceable and non).
http://modlist.pocketplane.net/index.ph ... t&cat_id=5
http://modlist.pocketplane.net/index.ph ... &cat_id=21

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:31 pm

I would definately go with Aerie. Her romance is fun to watch and participate in. I hate Haer-Dalis, so when I fight over her with him I always end up killing him, which absolutely makes my day. I pick up the Blade and get experience from saving his sorry butt, then he tries to steal my love, so I run him through.

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:14 pm

I've removed a couple of posts that paid no attention to the questions asked by the thread starter, but posed their own. Please, guys, don't do that. It's discourteous. Start your own threads. Or if you have a question about a comment somebody's made, PM them about it.

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:43 pm

If you've never done romances before, I'd suggest starting with one of the official ones. All have individual strengths. Aerie is innocent but has a bit of a tragic caste. If this isn't your cup of tea, she'll annoy you quickly. If you chose Aerie, I would recommend picking up Haer-Daelis. It does spice things up a bit. For that matter, the Keto mod complexifies this love triangle even more. From my experience, Aerie's is the most interesting ToB relationship. It's decent in SoA, and probably one of the strongest if you like her character and bring Haer-Daelis along.

Jaheira's is the most involved in SoA. Quite frankly, though, it's the weakest in ToB (at least that was my impression). Her personality is more aggressive and controlling than Aerie. The romance evolves out of your prior friendship with her and her husband. Again, if you enjoy romances that grow out of comraderie, hers will be appealing. I've never liked her personality as much as others, but it is an entertaining and complex SoA romance.

Viconia's is both the most "fun" and the most unhealthy relationship. You get to be a bit more forward and even insulting with her. It can be entertaining in places. It's most ideal for evil characters, though it will work with a ranger. You can actually 'convert' her, sort of, I believe. So that may be a goal to shoot for. In ToB it stays on course. It's stronger than Jaheira's in ToB, probably.

Whichever you chose, I'd encourage you to download the Flirt Pack (and probably Banter Pack as well) from thePocket Plane Planet. It adds a bit of color to the romances.

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:43 am

[QUOTE=dragon wench]I can't recall if she has ToB content, but I've heard very good things about the Tashia romance. [/QUOTE]

yep, Tashia has ToB content. She's personally one of my favorite mods I've used. Nicely written, good class (Sorc) and plenty of dialogue.

Of the romances packaged with the game, I think also the Jaheira romance is my favorite, followed by Viconia. Aerie whines too much

There are a ton of mods available, and the ones I've used so far haven't given me any problems. Mostly you just need to read up on whatever mods you're going to use to make sure they are compatable. Most of them will have a list of what you can use the mod with and what you can't.

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 5:57 pm

[QUOTE=Bloodstalker]

Of the romances packaged with the game, I think also the Jaheira romance is my favorite, followed by Viconia. Aerie whines too much

[/QUOTE]

She annoyed me a bit the first time I played through, as well. Though I imagine I was more sympathetic to her than you. Still in my present run through the game I picked up Haer-Daelis and Keto (who is an exceptional NPC mod, very entertaining, balanced and well voiced. Though she has no romance). The relationship with Aerie is much more interesting in SoA this time through by virtue of the conflicts. Maybe I'm just the jealous type, though...,

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:36 am

[QUOTE=Bloodstalker]yep, Tashia has ToB content. She's personally one of my favorite mods I've used. Nicely written, good class (Sorc) and plenty of dialogue.
[/QUOTE]

She does have TOB content, but it's largely cribbed from the Jaheira romance (really.) A lot more effort went into Tashia's SOA section.

The Mirrabbo Imoen romance, as well as the old Arnel Nalia romance, don't have TOB content. The new Saerileth mod has SOA and TOB romance. She's 15. Knock yourself out.

And, yes, perhaps unsurprisingly, I'll join my voice to those recommending that you play the Bioware romances with the inclusion of the flirt packs. Particularly for TOB, it makes the extremely truncated romances more involved.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 2:05 pm

Admittedly, I initially did a double take when I saw that Saerileth is only 15. However, she's a Chosen of Mystra project and I'm currently running their Tsujatha and Yasraena mods, which are truly excellent. Hence, I'm guessing that Saerileth is also very good; I may start up a male PC just to check her out. As far as the age thing goes.. well.. Aerie (although an elf) is also very young and innocent.

In the same sort of vein, numerous people find the Imoen romance disconcerting because of the sibling connection. Again, it really is all highly subjective.

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:06 pm

I'm playing through the Saerileth romance at the moment, and it's nicely done, although I do have a couple nitpicky problems with it.

Possible spoilers...(highlight to read)

If you do DL it, tryand hold off until you can get the version two of it, which last I heard should be out this month. Could already be out as a matter of fact, but the initial release has a problem with her first quest triggering (I even installed the patch, and still had to use SK to fix it), and her spawning point is going to be moved in the newer version since she has serious issues with the theives quests you get from Bloodscalp. You must take her into the party the first time you meet her, or she's gone for good, and her current spawning point makes it impossible to finish those quests before she joins you. There is a way around the conflicts, but it's a bit of a RP killer IMO since it involves fooling her script. Also, the romance will not occur unless you meet the minimal requirements in Charisma.I believe the requirement is something like 15.

I will also say the the flirt packs are pretty much a must have for any romance that comes packaged in the original game. The only other mod I will not play without besides the flirt and banter packs is the Dungeon be Gone mod. those have simply become standard for any install I pull with the game.

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:21 pm

While we are on the subject, DW, how do you regard the voice sets from both Tsujatha and Yasraena? I downloaded and tried Yasraena some time ago, but I was quickly put off by her voicing. It just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the BG voices, so I uninstalled her as fast as I downloaded it. No disrespect to the rest of the mod, because from the few dialogs that I experienced, I saw the quality was pretty good. However, I'm hoping Keto and Saerileth will not have such abnormal voice sets... (this, of course, is my own opinion and you are free to disagree

)
And Bstalker: verson 3 of the Saerileth romanced is out for some time now, version 4 will be released around the 20th of April. Or so I've read.

As for Tsujatha: I haven't tried him yet, because I'm not sure how much value he will have if I do not romance him. Any thoughts about this, DW?

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 3:20 pm

@Sytze....That's the version I meant. The one due out this month. Don't blame me for not being able to remember names and numbers

Re: Saerileth's voicing, it does have somewhat of a different feel to it in terms of accent and speech (thee & thou types stuff), but it doesn't really bother me as it's explained why the character speaks differently in the mod.

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 3:44 pm

[QUOTE=Sytze]However, I'm hoping Keto and Saerileth will not have such abnormal voice sets... [/QUOTE]

Personally, I've found Keto to really fit seamlessly into the BG2 world in terms of voicing (she's a bit chattier, with far more dialogue options, than a normal BG NPC, though). It's the best mod voicing I've encountered, though I don't have the exhaustive experience that some do with every random NPC mod out there. But, again, there's no romance option with Keto. She does have quite a few interjections in at least the Haer-Daelis, CHARNAME, Aerie love triangle, though.

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:11 am

[QUOTE=Bloodstalker]
Re: Saerileth's voicing, it does have somewhat of a different feel to it in terms of accent and speech (thee & thou types stuff), but it doesn't really bother me as it's explained why the character speaks differently in the mod.[/QUOTE]

I found that the character sounds entirely too old. (And I'm referring to voice tone here, not language.) To my ear, she sounds older even than I believe Sillara to be. I think the accent/tone selection was not an ideal choice.

(Of course, I've taken knocks for making Kelsey sound too young, as well.)

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:49 am

[QUOTE=jcompton](Of course, I've taken knocks for making Kelsey sound too young, as well.)[/QUOTE]

In this regard, how do people feel about Keto's voice? I find that Kelsey has a voice that blends in fairly well with the bioware NPC's, while Yasraena does not. Is Keto in the same line of quality as Kelsey?

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:38 pm

[QUOTE=Sytze]In this regard, how do people feel about Keto's voice? I find that Kelsey has a voice that blends in fairly well with the bioware NPC's, while Yasraena does not. Is Keto in the same line of quality as Kelsey?[/QUOTE]

Well, Faust did just say "It's the best mod voicing I've encountered."

Response to her voice work has been pretty overwhelmingly positive, which is a tribute both to Stoplight Red for putting in a lot of hard work, and to Bons who did the vast majority of audio direction and editing.

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:59 pm

Personally, I regard Keto's voiceovers as the best I've heard from a third party source for BG2. They're that good. Just my POV.

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:08 pm

[QUOTE=fable]Personally, I regard Keto's voiceovers as the best I've heard from a third party source for BG2. They're that good. Just my POV.[/QUOTE]

I agree with fable here. Keto's voiceovers are quality work and enjoyable to listen to.