Romances in BG1

[icelus]

Sounds right. A male PC develops a crush on Jaheira and gets smacked halfway across one of those huge, outdoor areas when he becomes annoying. Dynaheir (I am not thy wetnurse) and Safana (you're too easy to be any fun.) would let the chap down as firmly if less physically. A female PC starts up a courtly, story-book romance with Garrick and both of them run like scared rabbits the instant they discover that there's a real person to deal with under the romantic veil. Or gets dumped by Eldoth once Skye appears because her daddy's rich. Kivan snarls at the pain her clumsiness causes him and Ajantis is gay. Fun for the whole family.

[icelus]

Note that NPCs such as Eldoth, Yeslick, Alora, Coran and (heaven forbid) Tiax and Quayle are much more difficult to romance as they only appear in chapters 4-5.

[icelus]

Well, I do not think it will be a problem - just a shorter romance. Or you can leave all the wilderness areas till chapter 4-5... BG1 is a VERY flexible game in terms of timing.

[icelus]

I decided to take this one out of the "poll" threads, so if there are people interested in this particular topic they could share their ideas with me and let me know when I am doing something very wrong. Anyway, here are some thoughts and romance outline. Please, do not hesitate to ponder and discuss - I really need your feedback, as like I said before, I seem to have a better handle on male romances than female ones.

 

What do you think?

 

The general info about the romance:

 

1) Dynaheir is slightly older than PC - PC is 20-22, Dynaheir is 25-27.

2) Dyanheir's status in Rashemen is an assistant to the Keeper of Manuscripts in one of the Hathran's groups. She takes vivid interest in old lore.

3) I am divided on wether Dynaheir should warn PC about his blood if she romancing him - perhaps in shady terms?

4) Dynaheir would romance a male with minimum Intelligence and Wisdom scores of 12 in each, any class, Non-Evil; Probably will break the romance on an earlier stage with a PC of a rogue class or CN (in debating).

5) Romance will go on, and will be only interrupted by the wish of PC or Dynaheir's death in SoA - or will not be interrupted at all if HC makes his transgression mod.

6) Dynaheir will try to be in control and do not allow the romance, but it will get out of hands and she will be swept away by the PC.

7) Reputation has to be 12 or higher for romance to continue

8) Additional party reaction banters will have to be added. Good candidates are Khalid who is trying really hard to play a father figure, imoen teasing about how fortunate it is that Dynaheir had come all that way, since the PC seems to be partial to the girls next door; minsc and boo kind of embarrassing talks, garrick trying to help PC to compose love song…etc.

9) I would prefer not to have a flirtpack

10) Dynaheir's personal quest from Phase 2 will not be connected with the romance

11) Romance conflicts: political one with Edwin; no romantic-based conflicts or will be decided at a later date if a development of a few romances will take place.

 

Expansion of the existing friendship talks and Lovetalk topics:

 

The currently existing talks:

 

1) Dynaheir speaks a little about her native land comparing it to PC's upbringing.

2) Dynaheir explains a willing to listen PC of Hathran/Wychlaran

3) Dynaheir speaks of Minsc and willing male PC can get some personal info out of her.

4) Reactional talk on PC's Bhaalspawn's status.

 

What I think might be interesting to add (pls, let me know what you think)

 

Friendly talks:

 

1) Dynaheir is talking about Ancient Empires and how her nation has come into being - on the romantic side PC can start teasing her about her mind living too far in the past and it can end playfully

2) Dynaheir talks about her travels - perhaps more than one talk. I have not yet traced Dynaheir's rout on the maps, but it should be like a humorous account of her adventures in different lands etc.

3) A more serious talk about Hathran's upbringing and possibly a bit of Dynaheir's family history (to be invented, and very shady - she does not remember much, being taken away from her family etc)

4) Discussion of some supernatural abilities a Whychlaran has (some mystique)

5) Rashemen-Thay relationships, and a bit about their constant wars

6) Dynaheir maketh light of her capture by gnolls. Nope, she was not raped by gnolls.

 

Bhaal-series

 

1) veiled hints about blood, Dynaheir can reveal a bit of a prophecy

2) The follow up to the existing talk - PC blames Dynaheir of not telling him earlier.

3) Dynaheir and PC have a frank chat about his heritage and it either antagonize them or some sweet consolation.

4) A talk about Gorion and Aliana - allows D/PC to connect on the level that they both never really knew their parents.

5) She will tell about Alaundo's life, times and his other prophecies

 

Romantic talks

 

1) Additional gratitude talk for her rescue - coming actually later in the game and referring to romance novel experience - and some opportunities for a PC to seize his chance and get a kiss or something

2) PC got hurt in battle and a weak healing ability shows in Dynaheir (very weak maybe one cure light wounds per day)

3) Dynaheir by some reason remembers Rashemi courting rituals and tryes to convince PC that it had nothing to do with the fact that she was looking at him

4) death foreboding talk

5) Another 5-10 courting/intimacy talks....

 

Class=specific talks

 

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

 

Total talks: 4 Unisex talks + 20-25 Romance related talks.

 

THE SOURCES:

 

RealmsLore:

 

-Any player manual I can get my hands on

-Faerun's timeline

-A lovey webpage compiling info on Ancient Empires

 

For Historicotastical Flavor:

 

Russian Lay of the Knyaz' Igor Troops

perhaps some of the most popular legends of medieval Russian history

[icelus]

Sounds great! Dynaheir is a great character and my favourite female in BG1, a shame that she dies in SoA and you can't do nothing about it.  I'm not so crazy about Minsc, but Dynaheir is definitely something.

 

And it would be nice to learn more about FW lore in such attractive company and using Russian legends will prove interesting I don't think that they're very well known - not even here even that we share a long history together. Also setting a minimum int & wisdom requirements is a good thing to do - it makes sense that that is something she' would be looking for in a man. 

 

I would prefer not to have a flirtpack

 

Do you have a specific reason for that? Not that I necessarily disagree, but I'm curious.

 

PC got hurt in battle and a weak healing ability shows in Dynaheir (very weak maybe one cure light wounds per day)

 

Awwww... That will be so sweet.

 

Uh.. sorry about that.

 

6) Dynaheir will try to be in control and do not allow the romance, but it will get out of hands and she will be swept away by the PC.

 

I like this, Dynaheir does seem like a person who prefers to be in control. But I bet she will be delighted with the outcome when she finally lets go. Until Irenicus comes around that is - poor girl. Tragic romances rule, however.

 

4) death foreboding talk

 

Yes, this will definitely add the mystery factor about her.

 

-Meira

[icelus]

Well, I tried to give Bene-Gessarit/Aes Sedai-ish sort of flavour to her for her banters - depending if you find this

type interesting or not she might appear interesting or still boring.

 

The restrictions:

 

Racial - any race (since all planned romances for a male are so far with Human women - gotta give some

love-life and food for imagination to those role-playing other races...) Or maybe she will be restricted to say humans, h-e, gnomes and halflings...

 

Gender - male PC

 

Handling of SoA - no handling for now, as Dynaheir always dies. The PC handles it in a manly, stoical and quiet way.

If HC will develop the transfer mod someone can pick up the banner from my weakening fingers. I do not give up, and

my sword is still unbroken, but my lifeblood has drained into the sand.

 

Flirt pack - as far as I can tell from observing Solaufein's flirt threads classical Kelsey 1.01 type flirts

(ie repetitive set of "simple actipon

answered by a simple action") are giving way to the free-style flirts - ie events occuring only once

and describing sensual/playful interaction. Which is basically a lovetalk. So the "classical"

flirtpack is my lowest priority for now.

[icelus]

I don't know if you thought about this, Domi, but number 4 will be a pain to code. The IE does not include any greater than/less than contingencies for adding two values together. If you had int and wis individually be greater than say 12, coding would be much easier.

 

What you're suggesting is possible, but with the incredible number of OR blocks that it would require, it would be a real pain in the butt.

 

If the transfer mod isn't done by the time we're ready to release, I'll code up a real cheap one (it will only take a minute or two) that we can use to include some BG2 dialogue for if the PC was romancing Dyna.

 

Otherwise, I like what you've got so far.

[icelus]

I like the idea of this romance and the outline looks great and in character.

 

4) Dynaheir would romance a male with minimum Intelligence+Wisdom score of 16 of any alignment/profession.

 

Is 16 the total of Int + Wis or both of them? How about 11+ for both?

 

However, with Dynaheir being lawful good, I do not see why she will romance a PC of any alignment. Especially since you also suggest a restriction on reputation. I think any evil character would be out of the question - no matter how charming.

 

1) Dynaheir speaks a little about her native land comparing it to PC's upbringing.

 

I think it is a very good idea to add some Forgotten Realms lore to the mod.

 

2) PC got hurt in battle and a weak healing ability shows in Dynaheir (very weak maybe one cure light wounds per day)

 

I do not think this is a good idea.

 

THE SOURCES:

 

RealmsLore:

 

-Any player manual I can get my hands on

-Faerun's timeline

-A lovey webpage compiling info on Ancient Empires

 

Try http://www.candlekeep.com . It deals with nothing but the Forgotten Realms and there is a lot to read there. Try the forums for specific questions.

 

For Historicotastical Flavor:

 

Russian Lay of the Knyaz' Igor Troops

perhaps some of the most popular legends of medieval Russian history

 

I am not too fond of references to things outside the world of AD&D.

 

-Echon

[icelus]

Thank you for a tip with wis+int. Then I'd go for:

Wisdom>8

Intelligence>8

 

Evil alignment - I think that if you are an evil person at heart, but do good things, a lawful good character expecially the one who knows you background will see

the potential to change you - and gods be good, do women like changing men! But of course if your reputation drops - she would break up with the PC.

I am amendable on that issue though. If the majority of people will think that it is a flawed reasoning then restricton to N to G in addition to rep is fine with me.

 

The reasons why I want to give her a very weak healing ability are (even if she will be able to heal say 3 or 4 hit point or something):

a) Wychlaran are mage-priests

b) I think that this ability will not make her unbalanced while giving a mistical and romantic bust to the storyline.

 

About using medieval Russian literature:

I will Faerunize it for sure, it's just I feel that nothing is better as a source of medieval environment than base the

simulation on real thing.

[icelus]

I think 8 is too little, it's below the average. And as I said int and wis would likely to be qualities she would admire in a man. Yes 16 would be quite high, so you might not want to go there. 14? or 14 and 12?

 

But since there is no way determining if the PC is doing good things in order to keep good appearance in the eyes of others from for the genuine desire to do good and turn around his life, I don't think that Dynaher should romance an evil PC. She would certainly see trough the PC's little act on the first case while she would certainly support the later case.

 

Cure light wounds once per day will certainly not unbalance the game not even BG1, especially since it wont come right from the start. She can already slow poison which is way more powerful when a spider bite takes more than easily your life.

 

 

-Meira

[icelus]

I am Dynaheir, a witch of Rashemen.  I and my comrade Minsc have been sent by the Wychalarn to determine if the prophecies of Alaundo are true.  We search for the spawn of Bhaal.

 

Not wanting to flame, Domi, but I've always seen Dynaheir as sort of being an observer of events. I think she'd avoid emotional attachment with the PC: She has been sent to check on the prophecies, and I think her duty would be first priority here.

[icelus]

- I'll scratch out the evil aligned PC.

 

- I agree with you, Andyr that Dynaheir was sent as an observer.

 

But that very fact helps to build the romantic story.

 

Dynaheir studied the prophecies for many years, she pictured that

Bhaalspawn, the powers he may possess, the evilness in him fighting

against his own soul, etc. She might have seen herself in her dreams as someone

who can find that man or woman and might even change things or stand

on the way of great evil.

 

The way I see it she is passionate about her subject, and

she is more familiar with him than with any other man before that.

That pre-intimacy is a catalist for the whole affair and for the

speed with which it happens.

 

Duty is a great motivator, and in the beginning she might even believe

that she follows her duty to a tee.

 

But I also see her as a woman who can feel as well as think and for

any such woman time comes to fall in love. So she would, and she'd die for that.

[icelus]

Thank you for making this point. It is a very good idea to be factored in. Another way to address this issue is to make her break the romance at an earlier stage with Rogue Classes (Theif/Bard) and Chaotic Neutral Alignment chars - to show that duty and mentality of an LG char overcome feelings in this case...

 

Heh, I won't go into more details untill we are done with Phase 2, just keep fintuning this basic outline depending on the feedback...

[icelus]

prelims on Imoen Romance:

 

1> Imoen is a year or 2 younger than the PC (18-20)

2> At some point, there may be some foreshadowing in very low-key terms that Imoen is your sister, very low-key

3> Romace: Male PC, non-evil (if you're LE, but have a high reputation she could...). reputation other than LE would haveto be pretty low to continue romance...say 6 or 8.

4> She might think the PC is joking or something out and may decide not to continue the romance depeding on choices you made (atleast i'd like to do this...it makes it flow much better than traditional BG2 romances)

5> There will be slightly different talks depending on race and alignment...i never liked entirely generic stuff of one-size-fits all.

6> Romance will go one to SoA, though upon learning Imoen is your sister, you can have the option to stop it with no ill effects.

7> Imoen will let the PC be in control of the romance for the most part

8> Additional party reaction banters will have to be added. Good candidates are Khalid and Jaheria who have known both you and Imoen from before and went through the awkward moemtns of their courtship, garrick to help compose lovesongs, dynaheir and brawen perhaps giving imoen some advice, as well as maybe Viconna. Xan who might mention the romance is doomed. Alora and Skie who might gossip more about the pc and probably support her and probably Yeslick and Minsc/Boo somewhere with PC and/or imoen. There could be others, but that's what i have now.

9> Conflicts: None foreseen at this time since no one knows she is your sister. Conflicts with other romances in BG1 will haveto be seen.

10>  No pre-determined quests have been made, but i have 2 minors ones in mind.

 

Expansion of the existing friendship talks and Lovetalk topics:

 

1> Imoen speaks with PC about life in Candlekeep

2> Imoen talks about some stuff she'd like to do after the PC's done adventuring

3> Reactional talk on PC's Bhaalspawn's status, maybe some foreshadowing here to the fact the Imoen is also a Bhaalspawn...dunno yet

 

What I think might be interesting to add (pls, let me know what you think)

 

1> More intimate reaction to places you see and people met

2> PC, atleast early on,  getting some pointers from other party members

 

Romantic talks

 

1> Sister Forboding talk

2> At first she should think you're joking, aleast 2 talks, possibly 3

3> Another 5-10 courting/intimacy talks....

 

Other Imoen Mods

Possible, with their permission, to link with either Lord Mirrabbo's Imoen Romance Mod or Quitch's furture Imoen Relationship mod.

[icelus]

3> Romace: Male PC, non-evil (if you're LE, but have a high reputation she could...). reputation other than LE would haveto be pretty low to continue romance...say 6 or 8.

Why would you maybe permit LE but not other evil types?

 

Imoen will have known you the longest out of any of the NPCs, and so will know your true nature. Some people say that LE characters can often hide their evilness if they are the type that works with the law, subtley manipulating it to their own ends (as opposed to a more overt chaotic evil I KILL J00 ALL NOW KK?;)// type), though I suggest Imoen would know the true you.

 

So, I think you should either not restrict the romance alignments at all, or else cut out all Evil alignments. After all, Imoen knows you best.