Any interest in a Keldorn Expansion mod?

[Senka]

They mean this awful portrait

[Ankhesenpaaten]

I don't think "years later" means more than 10. Rather 5-7

 

 

Could be. I thought of it of being at least 10 years later if not more. It depends on your perspective when you read it. Anyway I don't really think he's ancient in BG2. Many people I have known through my life speak and act as if they are much older than they really are. Could be due to education or high up on the corporate ladder they are or whatever.

I actually see Keldorn in his early 40's. 50 at the absolute top. But however anyone sees him is fine I think.

[Domi]

Those portraits iirc come from the original Bio designs, so the biography probably originates from one of the Bioware's pre-release spoilers the way they also posted early bios for BG1.

[sisterpatrick]

Add me to the list of interested people. I like to have Keldorn in my party - he's kind of the resident Dad of group - so adding more mentoring would be excellent. I never thought of him as a romanceable character, but I'd certainly play it and see how it goes.

 

Good luck with it!

[Sephira]

Senka; yes, I've definitely given some thought to this. It's going to be handled very delicately. But also don't forget, if you do get into a romance with him, by that point Maria will already have left with her lover. I think it's hard to condemn a man for wanting a divorce or looking elsewhere when his wife is literally gone. Although, you never know. I'll have to look up customs in one of my husband's old D+D books.

 

. . .

 

. . . "Whatcha reading, honey?" "Divorce books." " . . . is this because I left my underpants on the bathroom floor?"

 

As far as the age goes, I think I'll let people's imaginations take wing. Me, personally? I like mid-forties. But if you want to pretend Keldorn is a calloused, grizzled seveteen year old driven grey by hard battles and flexing muscles, well, you go right ahead.

 

Looks like this project is a-go, by the way. They will be seperate downloads (one with romance, one without), but released at the same time, if I have my way about it. I've had some really generous offers to help code, and, well, I've got a lot that's very nearly ready to go. Some of it needs fleshing out and proof-reading, but I'm reading over it, and it's looking good so far. I've been writing a lot this afternoon; hopefully people like a lot of dialogue options. I'm trying to leave room to allow people to really have a lot of character in their responses, but there isn't much in the way of evil dialogue.

 

He has a small chat-pack that I never really went anywhere with. I have a few ideas written down:

 

1) Ask Keldorn for a tactics lesson. (I'm thinking maybe you could select this twice for a small xp bonus each time.)

2) Ask Keldorn what he thinks about your party members.

3) Ask Keldorn what he thinks about your romance with ____.

4) Ask Keldorn if he thinks you'd make a good paladin. (Or if you ARE one.)

5) Ask Keldorn for help tending to your wounds.

And other such things. Is there anything in particular anyone else would like to see or ask?

[berelinde]

Well, there are the traditional "romance" player-initiated dialogue options, but that can wait.

 

As for Keldorn's age, I rather imagine he would be a contemporary of mine. I'm 40, greyer than him (or would be if I stopped dyeing my hair), and have a nephew (born to my twin) who is older than Leona.

 

He speaks of being an old paladin, but I speak of being an old chemist. Keldorn hangs out with adventurers. They tend to be young, so to him, he probably does feel like an old paladin. Most of the time, when he says it, I imagine he's using a subtle kind of irony, the kind an old chemist might use when she says "In my day, we didn't have digital chart recorders. We had to photocopy the chart, cut out the peaks on the photocopy with an Exacto knife, and weigh the peaks to determine their area." Kind of like when a parent says that he knows why you'd use a logarithm for mathematical manipulations. Before calculators became widespread, it was just easier.

[Sephira]

Oh, sure. I just meant I never like martyrdom in my romances, and I don't want to run the point that CHARNAME is involved with an older man into the ground. It would be very easy for that to come across as needlessly vitriolic if she kept throwing that point into the court in the romance, or if Keldorn kept going on about how CHARNAME was a saint for loving such an old, old, old, old, old, old man.

 

. . . he's old.

 

(kidding)

 

Keldorn hangs out with adventurers. They tend to be young, so to him, he probably does feel like an old paladin. Most of the time, when he says it, I imagine he's using a subtle kind of irony, the kind an old chemist might use when she says "In my day, we didn't have digital chart recorders. We had to photocopy the chart, cut out the peaks on the photocopy with an Exacto knife, and weigh the peaks to determine their area."

 

That is awesome, and I agree.

 

Kind of like when a parent says that he knows why you'd use a logarithm for mathematical manipulations.

 

. . . and then she lost me.

 

Hey! I use my brain for words, not numbers! So sue me.

[Senka]

greyer than him

Me too But I'm 52 and I still feel myself young. It depends you see...

[Sephira]

Just thought I'd let people know, I've been drafted into the IEP for Keldorn. His romance will not be part of the IEP, but I will make sure it is a compatible download. And speaking of the mod itself, I've had a rather staggering offer of support here, so we may see a release a lot sooner than I'd anticipated. Right now I've been sort of updating my writing for consistency, and there's still a lot to go, but I feel quite positive about it.

[Ankhesenpaaten]

Oh that's such good news Sephira! There are so many smart and helpful people here that I'm glad you have support. And I don't care how "old" Keldorn is I'll be more than happy to romance him! Most of the women in my family are married to men 15 and more years older than they are so age to me is never really a factor. Except for me my hubby is a tad younger so I'm called a cradle robber.

 

I'll keep looking to see if and when Keldorn gets his own forum not that I'm really trying to put the cart before the horse!

[KIrving]

You know, at the risk of TMI here, I'm married to a workaholic. And love him deeply. And when he's ignored me too long, I talk to him about it, I don't go looking to have an affair. Just sayin'. And I live in today's society where having an affair doesn't carry the stigma that it once did. How accepted is it to have affairs as the wife of a noble in Amn?

 

The "something for me" aspect of Maria's excuse is terribly immature, and terribly selfish. It's the act of someone past the point of caring--particularly given that she let this man escort her and the CHILDREN somewhere! Involving the kids in the affair?!?!?!? The mind, she boggles. I can't imagine this behavior in real life coming from someone deeply in love, but hurt. As you can see, I don't hold much sympathy for Maria.

 

Being older, having maintained a long-term relationship, and having a family--well, it gives perspective, and I don't find Maria's declaration of deep love all that believable. I can see her as once loving him very much, but it having died in much the way Sephira has planned.

Yes, I didn't feel the sincerity with Maria's deep love either.

Of course on the other hand, in my mind, I always thought that Keldorn was in love with an idea/image of his wife. I don't think he truely knew Maria or vice versa.

I found the original story line to be somewhat clunky.

 

I would even enjoy more the thought that Maria does not go and see another man (or the same as before), but just realizes she does not want to live with Keldorn any more. So, no cheating from "badbad" Maria, but a woman who realises that the life she once agreed to lead is not what she wants any more.

I really like this approach as suggested by jastey. I like the idea that Maria gets on with her life without Keldorn.

I wouldn't want my PC to be responsible for having Maria killed or imprisoned. Even if my PC had fallen head over heels for Keldorn I think that she would try to put aside her feelings and see them reunited instead of condemning Maria.

 

 

If you haven't worked it out already I'm a fan of a Keldorn romance. I've always found him a sexy/interesting character.

[Sephira]

Thanks guys. I'm working on it, but not much for the past few days, since my husband apparently thought a bad cold made an acceptable early valentine's present. It has been progressing, but until I feel better (which is already happening), I'm not going to be up to sitting at the computer for long.

 

Oh, and I won't be getting Keldorn his own forum until he's had a good chunk coded. Seems only fair for there to be a bigger commitment before I go asking for forumspace.

[BigRob]

Good luck with it, Sephira. Not everyone will necessarily like the romance angle, but the friendship should cover the bases nicely. It sounds as though you're well on the way to an excellent NPC expansion.

[Kitana]

If it's done, and it's done believably, I'll look forward to it and play it.

[Luiz]

Wish I'd seen this earlier. It's a neat idea. This is a random coffee-fuelled sketch of ideas about handling the original situation/setup.

 

- meeting with lover (mostly) as per existing conversation. Convinces Keldorn to return to wife, offering good advice and support.

- intercepted en-route home; messenger -> K. must go to Radiant Heart. (If goes home first, Maria and maid report daughters have disappeared.)

- @ Radiant Heart, K informed that Order has learned of lover, and that they believe lover seduced Maria in preparation for extortion of information on order via K and his family. News/(or)/Confirmation: daughters have been kidknapped. Realising he has failed in duty to both his family and his order's tenets (failure to recognise lover's evil) K falls.

- sidequest to save daughters -> finale, Lover escapes, but his henchmen killed, and depending on how this last battle scenario handled daughters either saved or killed before being saved.

- Maria (and daughters if surviving) leave K for good.

- later sidequest for K. to recover Paladin-hood; could be tied to escaped baddy, rescuing Imoen, etc. (Needn't be romance dependent.)

- OR, daughters ALWAYS survive, and this returns K's Paladin-fu.