Damn you, Keldorn!

[PetrusOctavianus]

Not only does the the Lawful Good paladin kill a party member (most will know who) in cold blood and without a trial or even being accused of a crime, but my party gets a +2 Reputation for murder?!? Or do Paladins have a "license to kill" if their Evil Detector kicks in?

[berelinde]

Kinda, yeah, especially if said evil person happens to be of a generally distrusted race. To be fair, Keldorn isn't the only NPC who will attack other NPCs. Aerie will do it (or at least attempt it) if a certain emotionally disturbed young man lets his desire for revenge get the better of his training.

 

Next time, you might want to try the NPC IEP. It's got a feature that lets tactful PCs talk party members out of attacking other party members.

[PetrusOctavianus]

The funny thing is that Keldorn turned into a starry eyed little girl at the thought of fighting alongside Drizzt, though that may be due one of the banter packs. The annoying thing is that this thing happened right after starting to mop of Sundalassar (sp?). Couldn't he have done it while in Athkatla? Then I could have picked up Valygar. No, wait, he's at his cabin. Since I never use healing spells, only potions, temples and regeneration items, I've found that I don't really *need* a Cleric.

What's the NPC IEP mod?

[berelinde]

It's here. It adds additional banters to BioWare NPCs, but it also lets you talk down NPCs bent on annihilating their comrades. I've found that combining that with BG2 Bardic Reputation Adjustment lets me avoid using the Happy Patch, which I dislike because it suppresses any and all conflicts, including the Haer'Dalis-Aerie romance.

[PetrusOctavianus]

It's here. It adds additional banters to BioWare NPCs, but it also lets you talk down NPCs bent on annihilating their comrades. I've found that combining that with BG2 Bardic Reputation Adjustment lets me avoid using the Happy Patch, which I dislike because it suppresses any and all conflicts, including the Haer'Dalis-Aerie romance.

 

Ah yes! I do have that mod installed. I managed to talk Keldorn out of it once, but obviously CHARNAME's "can't we all just get along" speech wasn't that effective. :-)

[berelinde]

Might have a stat requirement. I don't remember... which is bad, because I seem to remember writing part of that dialogue.

[-JR-]

I liked the "talk it out" options, especially if they were stat-based dialogue choices. Though an ongoing theme through Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, and Dragon Age, has been the protagonist's almost supernatural ability to attract followers, regardless of actual charisma stat score, so it wouldn't be that bad if you were able to convince the characters to supercede their differences in the interest of keeping their place.

 

Everyone knows Drizzt's story; I think Keldorn's apprentice Ajantis in Baldur's Gate I lets you know that Drizzt should be trusted regardless of his race, at least if you have the BG1 NPC Project.

 

Berelinde touched on this a little, but one thing I would like to point out that reputation is not necessarily "good points," (though it is often used as such, at least in the original game), but is how your actions are viewed. Killing a non-Drizzt drow would look heroic whether justified or not.

 

And to be fair, unless you're considerably into the romance with Viconia, she looks pretty friggin' evil. And I guess technically she is. So while a more tolerant approach would be ideal, I don't think we can hold it against Keldorn that he took up arms against her. Though I probably wouldn't have the guts to do what he did, I would definitely be wishing harm on a group member who acted the way she does. After repeated playthroughs, it's easy to forget on some level that the characters don't know what's going to happen next, but they're in a life-and-death situation, where selfish and malicious attitudes could easily be fatal.

 

And outside the magic prejudice, it's a fairly behaviorally tolerant society- can you imagine how much trouble you'd get in these days if you killed someone in the street, even in self-defense? You wouldn't just be walking away the way you do after being confronted by, say, Corvale and Bregg.

 

Self defense against an armed mugger= -10 reputation, jail time. Go society!