Imoen the Bard

[Grim Squeaker]

In another thread Nightmare mentioned that Imoen can be played as a 'true class' regular old vanilla bard with this mod. But I don't see exactly how to do that. When I begin a new game, Immy immediately gets converted into the Arcane Rogue Kit. I didn't see an option during installation to select a 'true class' bard for her. Have I overlooked something?

 

Err... don't install the second component ('Give Imoen the Arcane Rogue kit')?

[Lemernis]

Lol! Yeah, I tried it sans that component, but she then remains her standard Thief-Mage dual class character. I.e., I uninstalled the Arcane Rogue component only, started a New Game, and that's what happened.

 

Interestingly though, with the Arcane Rogue component installed she appears first for a moment as a Bard and then in a couple seconds she converts to Arcane Rogue.

 

I'll try it again to double check.

 

I hope I'm remembering this right that it was Nightmare who advised me that Imoen can be played as a true class bard with his "Imoen as Bard" mod. I'm having trouble finding the thread... So perhaps it was someone else on a different forum who stated that, and perhaps the information is wrong to begin with.

[NiGHTMARE]

No, she does (or at least should) appear as a true class bard if you don't install the kit component - otherwise, why would the kit be a separate component?

 

All the kit component does is add/create/change the files neccessary for the kit, and then append an AddKit line to her script. Therefore, the fact that she appears first as a true class bard and then changes to an arcane rogue tells me that the first, main component of the mod is working fine.

 

Since I can think of no reason why the first component would only work if the second component is also installed, all I can suggest is that you try waiting a moment for her to become a bard, as the change is achieved via a script that might take a few seconds to kick in.

[Lemernis]

Hmm, not working :\ I uninstalled the Arcane Rogue component again and started a new game, but with the same result--Imoen remains a Mage-Thief. (I waited for several minutes for the script to kick in to convert her to Bard.)

 

Not sure if this would be a factor, but I do have Song and Silence installed. However when I unsintalled the Arcane Rogue component, your mod's setup.exe uninstalled and reinstalled it for me successfuly.

[Lemernis]

Would anyone else be interested in testing this mini-mod out to see if she is playable as a true class bard (i.e., do not install the Arcane Rogue component and see what happens)? Maybe it's just some funky configuration of mods I have running that might be causing the problem...

[Gorilym]

Would anyone else be interested in testing this mini-mod out to see if she is playable as a true class bard (i.e., do not install the Arcane Rogue component and see what happens)? Maybe it's just some funky configuration of mods I have running that might be causing the problem...

 

Tested installing the 'bard Imoen' but not the kit component, and it works for me - she's a bard all right. Sounds like a compatibility issue. Do you have (for instance) SwashImoen from Refinements installed as well?

 

On a different note - I the 'remove first cutscene' component. I wish it was in the Tweak pack though, it's sort of hidden away here - I hadn't even heard of this mod until recently.

[Lemernis]

Thanks for testing it!

 

Hmm, I have a lot of mods installed. I didn't select anything specifically for Imoen, but I wonder if Song and Silence might have affected it? I may just start from scratch.

 

Here's my modlist:

 

SoA

ToB

Official Patch http://www.bioware.com/games/throne_bhaal/support/patches/

BG2 Fixpack v.17 http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2fixpack/

 

NPCs

 

Imoen the Bard http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=1102

Berserker Minsc http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?s...berserker+Minsc

Amber NPC http://www.gibberlings3.net/amber/index.php

Kelsey NPC http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...&Itemid=66/

Keto http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...&Itemid=107

Xan NPC http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...&Itemid=113

Kivan and Dehriana NPC http://www.gibberlings3.net/kivan/index.php

Hubelpot NPC http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.php?showforum=156

 

Banter & Flirt Packs

 

BG2 Banterpacks http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...5&Itemid=78

NPC Flirtpacks http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...4&Itemid=81

 

Quest Mods

 

Quest Pack http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...&Itemid=100

Unfinished Business http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...1&Itemid=80

Turnip Golem Encounter http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...1&Itemid=91

Black Rose Part 1: Market Prices: http://www.blackwyrmlair.net/Mods/blackrose1.php

 

Kits, Rules Changes, Tweaks

 

Song and Silence http://www.gibberlings3.net/sns/index.php

BG2 Herbs & Potions Add-in http://www.blackwyrmlair.net/Mods/herbaddinbg2.php

One Pixel Productions http://www.spellholdstudios.net/mods/1pp/

BG2 Tweak Pack http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/

Wild Mage Additions http://home.tiscali.de/jo.ge/bg/shaper.htm

Divine Remix http://www.gibberlings3.net/cleric/index.php

Virtue http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php...7&Itemid=82

[Lemernis]

Okay after a fresh reinstall, she's now appearing as a vanilla bard like she's supposed to. (without the Arcane Rogue kit installed, that is)

[NiGHTMARE]

Good to hear .

[Andyr]

Song and Silence doesn't touch Imoen.

[Lemernis]

I wonder what the conflict was, though? Perhaps something I selected from among the above mods that's more globally related to rules changes for bards? Anyway, happy it's working.

[Lemernis]

Okay after setting aside a playtest game for this mod for a long while I finally resumed it, and I did run into a major glitch. The problem is detailed here:

 

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=10260

 

The game crashed when in Spellhold, at the point that Imoen returns as a party member, when that area/screen loaded. What ended up fixing this, and allowing me to continue the game, was to uninstall and reinstall NMITB.* (I tried some other things as well, but none of them worked, see the above referenced thread.)

 

So there is evidently some compatibility problem with one of the mods I'm running and Imoen the Bard. It is at least fixable by uninstalling/resintalling, at least with my above setup.

 

I selected the vanilla bard option for Immy. It's a matter of individual taste obviously, but I do find that I enjoy using her this way. There's not much to report here other than she has decent stats for a bard, and if you've ever played a true class bard in BG2, well, that's what she's like. I just feel like the bard class is a great fit for her personality.

 

I look forward to Nightmare's Arcane Rogue kit for her eventually, it sounds intruiging.

 

Should this mod ever be developed further, on my wish list for it: I would like to see a full selection of the bard kits for her (Blade, Jester, Skald) as well as the custom kits from Song and Silence.

 

 

* This may not be important to note, but:

 

I noticed that when I did so, many other mods also uninstalled and reinstalled. As far as I could tell, this occured roughly in the order they were originally installed; or possibly in an order that the installer program decided made the most sense.

 

I do have Easy Tutu installed, and I'm running the BG2 game from BGMain. Maybe it was Easy Tutu that was assuring that Virtue, for example, was reinstalled last? Anyway, it's been a long time since I installed all my mods so I honestly don't remember.

[Miloch]

I would like to see a full selection of the bard kits for her (Blade, Jester, Skald) as well as the custom kits from Song and Silence.

You should be able to assign any of those to her with the "Level 1 NPCs" mod.

[Lemernis]

Thanks, good to know!

 

I'm sorry but I'm unable to make any sense at all of that above-referenced thread. Is there more concise info on the Level 1 NPCs mod available, eg, a readme, to be found anywhere? And a download location for the mod?

 

As the name "Level 1" implies, does this mean the NPCs can be given new kits in Tutu? Because even at this point I'm considering trying to use Shadowkeeper to change her class in BG1. Does the mod work for BG2/ToB as well?

[Chev]

Just fallow the first link to RapidShare and download it there.

 

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// Level One NPCS: a mod for Baldur's Gate II (and maybe Tutu/BGT). \\

// \\

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Loosely based on Gebhart Blucher's "Blucher's alternate BG2 NPCs"

mod from way back in the day, suggested for update by Azazello,

supported by cmorgan, and coded/made monstrous by Nythrun (Hi there!)

 

Version: Alpha Three (8Mar2007)

There will be bugs. Oh yes. There will be bugs. Still true.

But less so.

 

 

 

Q: So, what's this do, then?

 

A: You're offered a list of the NPCs who can join your party and share

your kooky adventures. You can choose to tamper with some or all or none

of them. Let's say you've chosen Minsc. You can assign him any class

that a PC could have (Ranger Minsc! Fighter/Thief multi Minsc! Sorceror

...erm, Minsc!). After selecting a class, you can assign a kit (if you

like). The list of kits you're offered is any kit that's installed in

your game that the class you've chosen could select. Thus, if you've

turned Minsc into a Fighter/Thief multi, you can give him any fighter

kit or any thief kit (Berserker/Thief? No problem. Rather have Fighter/

Swashbuckler? No problem. Weimer's Anti-Paladin/Thief? Well, if you're

sure....) Note: you can advance in only one kit at a time and cannot

have two. This is hardcoded and will not be changed by this mod.

 

After, say, turning Minsc into a Berserker/Thief, you get to spend his

forty thief skill points that he gets for first level. Put them all in

Move Silently if you want to replicate his old ranger ways, or put them

into Pickpockets and Detect Illusion if that's more fun. It's your

game. Then you get to pick your starting weapon proficiencies. Lastly,

if you're a Sorceror you pick your first level spell.

 

Now when you meet Minsc in game, whenever you meet Minsc in game, he'll

be a level one Berserker/Thief - but while his level has been changed,

his experience hasn't been. So when you meet him in Chateau Irenicus,

you'll be able to immediately level him to whatever level his 89,000

experience would allot him, and reap all the usual benefits

 

 

 

Q: That sounds complicated and time consuming. Why didn't you just set

the NPCs to level zero like I do with Shadowkeeper and skip this long

sequence of selection menus?

 

A: Because leveling from zero to one doesn't give you the correct amount

of thief skill points nor weapon proficiencies. If I'd done that, your

party members would be permanently short - or - I'd have to pick where

to assign this stuff for you, which rather defeats the purpose of the

mod, doesn't it?

 

 

 

Q: Isn't the concept here kind of cheesy?

 

A: Perhaps It really depends on what you do with it and where your

threshold for cheese lies. For example, I've always thought it silly

that Jahiera shows up in BG2 specialized in club just because the game

designers wanted to show off their absurd looking and weak new weapon

type. No one likes clubs, and she's carrying a quarterstaff in her BG1

portrait for crying out loud! If this bothers you, you can change her

into a fighter/druid with no kit and put her proficiencies where Ms

"Speak Sharply and Carry a Huge Blunt Object" ought to have them.

 

 

 

Q: That's fine. But you can do sillier things with the mod too, right?

 

A: Sure. It's worth noting that Bioware was quite content to break the

"rules" whenever they thought it would make a character more vivid or

interesting. Minsc lacks the requisite wisdom to be a ranger. Aerie is

a multi-class that elves can't have. Anomen's wisdom is too low for

him to have legally dualed to cleric. You're just getting that option

now too.

 

 

 

Q: Yeah, but I turned Kagain and Korgan into paladins with your mod,

and it was stupid.

 

A: I bet. Don't do that. I can't tell where you draw the line, so you

will have to make your own choices.

 

 

 

Q: What about the NPCs' stuff? What happens to it?

 

A: All of their "generic" items (e.g. Chainmail, Longsword +1) are

removed. They get a new outfit of "generic" items based on the class

that you've picked for them. If you make Imoen a Swashbuckler and give

her proficiency in short bow and short sword, then she'll show up in

Candlekeep with a short bow, twenty arrows, a short sword, and some

variety of leather armor.

 

Signature items are a little more complicated; in the case of, say,

Haer'Dalis's Chaos and Entropy blades, he'll keep them, and the

weapons themselves will be altered so that he can use them regardless

of whatever class he is (Fighter/Mage? Fine, they're Fighter/Mage

usable now. Cleric? Uh...okay, he can still use them, and he'll get his

special bonus star in shortswords even though Clerics can't normally

use this kind of weapon.)

 

In the case of Monks some difficulty ensues: their offhand slot is

permanently occupied because of the kludgy way they're implemented. So

it does no good to make a shield Monk usable if they can't ever equip

it. Signature items for Monks are converted: two-handed sword becomes

katana, shield becomes cloak (shields can be worn over the back ),

etc, etc. It's not perfect, but I can't change the way Monks work.

 

 

 

Q: So, it's possible I might get better stuff when I recruit an NPC?

 

A: Yep. Since it's always been possible to take NPCs on the "Quest to

Find What's at the Bottom of that there Woodchipper" and pawn their

worldly possessions, I'm not too worried about this. The items they

end up with should be fairly close to what a standard NPC gets: if you

notice any glaring omissions or errors, let me know

 

 

 

Q: Lots of NPCs have special flavor innate abilites, what about those?

 

A: They're kept; innate abilities are not changed by this mod. Branwen

will still have her Spiritual Hammer if she's a Fighter/Cleric. Minsc

will still have his headwound rage if you make him a Berserker. NPC

only priest or wizard spells, on the other hand, have to be explicitly

assigned. I can make sure that Jahiera always knows Harper's Call if

she can cast spells (and in fact, that's already done ) but I have

to know in advance that it's a "special" spell. Anything I've missed,

let me know

 

 

 

Q: What about NPCs added by mods? Keto wants to be a skald!

 

A: None at this time. While I find it hypocritical for modders to

declare their work sacrosanct, there's certainly a contingent who

expect to have free reign trampling Bioware's intentions and other

modders intentions and the player's intentions while expecting their

own work to be pedestaled higher than, say, Shakespeare. So mod NPCs

aren't and won't be included without permission. With that said, Wes

Weimer won't care if his NPCs are included, and J. Compton will

probably allow PPG NPCs to be included if we all buy stock in Broken

Hourglass, so it's possible some will show up later

 

 

 

Q: Hitpoints?

 

A: If you're playing on core or below, maximum. If you're playing on

difficult, anywhere between half maximum and maximum. If you're

playing on Insane, random.

 

 

 

Q: Let's talk about install order.

 

A: I sure don't like mandatory install orders. Install BG2 or BG2 and

ToB. Make sure they've got the latest patch. If you're playing Tutu,

install the latest Easy Tutu version; if you're playing BGT, install

the G3 Fixpack and the latest BGT version. G3 Fixpack is gently

suggested; if you decide not to include it, I may not be able to help

you with any in-game bugs or bugs added by Baldurdash.

 

Other than that, it doesn't really matter. If you want to assign a kit

from a mod, you'll need to install that kit first (otherwise I've no

way of telling that you plan to install it later). If you want to use

Ashes of Embers or something else that changes the rules for weapon

proficiencies around, then that also should go earlier so that this mod

will follow the changed ruleset. I'm not sure what will happen with

Bg1-style profs: that may need to go afterwards. (Note to self: check

Tweaks .tp2)

 

Please note that if a kit is buggy or otherwise unstable, it will

remain so after this mod is done - I'm not changing the kits, at all.

 

 

 

Q: The first time I install a component, it goes slowly, why?

 

A: Because I have to build a list of joinable NPCs and make sure there

aren't errors in the .cre files before I mod them. Unless you're using

a very old machine, it shouldn't be too egregious.

 

 

 

Q: Why is my debug.log ten megabytes?

 

A: It's the downside of using regexp. I'm sorry.

 

 

 

Q: Do I need to start a new game?

 

A: Patching saved games is a terrible idea, so yes - though NPCs whom

you've not yet encountered should be okay to modify.

 

 

 

 

Any bugs you notice in this release, please report to me in this thread

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?s...amp;#entry67242

in the Gibberlings3 forums - I'll do my best to improve this based on

your feedback

 

 

Much thanks to Kulyok and Miloch for alpha testing!

 

 

 

Changelog:

 

Alpha One (2Feb07):

- Let us never speak of this again.

 

Alpha Two (16Feb07):

- Approximately Moser's number worth of bugs fixed

 

Alpha Three (8Mar07):

- Corrected a bug where some kits received weapon proficiencies from the

next kit in kitlist.2da

- Gave sorcerers their second level one spell (whoops!)

- Blocked BG2 npcs from displaying in Tutu

- Added code to automatically convert any creature effect version to v2

(this has to be done to prevent LOCALS from being truncated if over

eight charcters).

- Fixed typo in class selection menu.

- Blocked Barbarians from being selectable as a multiclass (sorry,

hardcoded hitpoint funk here, I can't make this work well).

- Two-handed weapons will now be equipped (unless you've selected another

weapon afterwards, naturally )

- Made cleric/mages use the (correct) cleric avatar rather than the

mage avatar.

- Xan's Moonblade will now be a longsword usable by whatever Xan is, and

he'll get a proficiency point in longsword for free whether that's

normally allowed or not: this represents his deep spiritual bond with

the weapon in the only way the uncouth BG2 engine can express

- Fixed a bug where NPCs would stockpile weapons in their inventory,

should be one per customer, Iron Crisis or no.

- Made the armor assignation for BG1 NPCs a bit less generous.

- Added a bloated preliminary component that allows tampering with

weapon proficiency rules. While there are other, stand-alone mods that

do this, if you want altered rules to apply for this mod, those altered

rules would have to be installed first. So I'm doing it for you This

component has received no testing whatsoever, be warned

- Forced barbarian and wildmage symbols to take a value of 0 in kit.ids.

 

 

This mod utilizes WeiDU version 198 (WeiDU created by Westley Weimer,

maintained and upgraded by Valerio Bigiani). Get the latest version at:

http://www.weidu.org. Near Infinity (by Fred S Richardson) was used to

browse files: http://forums.pocketplane.net is the place to go to nag the

poor guy for updates. Discussion thread has been hosted at the aformentioned

Gibberlings 3 which has been good enough to not eject me despite my

irascible and surly disposition