Mini quest idea for xvart farmer

[Gay Lord]

I suggested an idea for a li'l quest for UB over on PPG, but they say they're wrapping things up. As such, I'll drop the idea here if anybody thinks it's interesting or wants to include it in their mod. I don't know what mod it would go best with, which is why I mention it here in the general forum.

 

In the southeast of BG1 there's a farmer whose cow is being attacked by xvarts. If you kill them, the farmer asks you to look into where all of them are coming from. However, if you wipe out the xvart village, the farmer never says anything new.

 

What if after wiping out the village (possibly including a chieftan whose death would indicate the village had been dealt with), you return to the xvart farmer and he'll say something like, "A whole village?! Well, that explains it. I guess things are too dangerous around here now for me and Bessie, so we'll have to move on. Hopefully, we can find somewhere to go, although I can't imagine where I'll find another farm to run." The farmer and the cow then walk off stage.

 

However, if you've already helped the ankheg farmer and told him about his son, then you could tell the xvart farmer about it, and then him and the cow could teleport there, where both farmers will tell you they're happy with the match you've made.

 

No magic items or chests of gold, just a little good feeling from helping the ankheg farmer who's on his own, and moving out the xvart farmer who seems really out of place in such a dangerous area.

[Sorrow]

Nice idea .

[jastey]

*casts thread necromancing*

 

Nice idea, indeed. I am considering of implementing it into BGQE (link in my sig).

But I just thought: If the Xvart village is erased and the mines cleared, wouldn't that mean the farm would be much safer? So no need to move Hulrik and his cow (it's called Arabelle, if I may be nitpicky!)

 

Of course, this doesn't mean he could be sick and tired of keeping his cattle in this dangerous area and ready to run a farm elsewhere, if one wants to close those two quests to a happy ending. It's just in my opinion that with the news of these threats gone, he might be even more happy to remain in that area. He doesn't seem to be of the easy frightened kind.

 

 

BEGIN ~HULRIK~

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

// WARNING: this file contains non-trivial WEIGHTs

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

IF WEIGHT #0 ~NumTimesTalkedTo(0)

~ THEN BEGIN 0 // from:

SAY #14979 /* ~You have to help me!! Them xvarts are after my cows again!~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~~ EXIT

END

 

IF WEIGHT #1 ~Global("XvartsDead","GLOBAL",8)

!Dead("HulriksCow")

~ THEN BEGIN 1 // from:

SAY #14981 /* ~Thanks for saving Arabelle, here. Ever since them xvarts an' their kobold kin swarmed the mines at Nashkel, they've been makin' attacks like that more and more often. If someone like yourself could get to the bottom of that, all of us trying to make an honest livin' out here sure would be grateful.~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~AddexperienceParty(350)

ReputationInc(1)

IncrementGlobal("XvartsDead","GLOBAL",1)

~ JOURNAL #15728 /* ~I may very well be the first adventurer in the Realms to have learned something useful by saving a cow. Hulrik, her owner, informs me that xvarts and kobolds appear to be using the Nashkel mines as a base. For what, only Oghma knows but I get the sense that the pesky critters are not alone down there...~ */ EXIT

END

 

IF WEIGHT #2 ~Dead("HulriksCow")

~ THEN BEGIN 2 // from:

SAY #14986 /* ~Damnations! That's another cow they've killed. None of them are gonna carry off the meat, this time, at least. Well, thanks for trying, I guess.~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~~ JOURNAL #15729 /* ~It appears that xvarts have been making regular raids on the livestock around Nashkel. They must be operating from a base nearby but where, exactly, I cannot be sure.~ */ EXIT

END

 

IF WEIGHT #3 ~GlobalLT("XvartsDead","GLOBAL",8)

~ THEN BEGIN 3 // from:

SAY #14987 /* ~Why are you talking to me? They're killin' Arabelle even as we speak!~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~~ EXIT

END

 

IF WEIGHT #5 /* Triggers after states #: 5 even though they appear after this state */

~True()

~ THEN BEGIN 4 // from:

SAY #14988 /* ~Be careful out there. These mountains are more dangerous than any of us realize.~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~~ EXIT

END

 

IF WEIGHT #4 ~false()~ THEN BEGIN 5 // from:

SAY #14989 /* ~You're no better than those damnable xvarts. Well, I ain't going to my grave without a fight.~ */

IF ~~ THEN DO ~~ EXIT

END

[joshuar9476]

isn't the xvart village quite far from the farmer and his cow ... so far in fact, that i never really put together that they may have come from there .. i like the idea, just throwing in my $.02.

[jastey]

That is true: The Xvart village is West of Nashkel, the farmer is Norh/NorthEast from the Carnival. There is quite a lot of space in between, but it's all wilderness apart from the road that has to be crossed (if you avoid Nashkel). I could imagine they do hunting trips into the lands, or something.

 

South from the Xvart village is the Gnoll Stronghold with some Xvart caves. Maybe those should be taken into account, too. Does anyone know what relation the Gnolls and the Xvarts, especially the ones in the caves have? If any?

[the bigg]

Personally, I'd add a separate Xvart fortress near the farmer by patching the world map (I don't know if there's a formal tutorial anywhere, but some mods do add WMAP areas, so it shouldn't be too hard to borrow code). Xvarts would have to travel like 3 days to go from their village to the farm and back, and I suppose they aren't going to raid that particular farm as regularly as the dialogue implies.

[joshuar9476]

Personally, I'd add a separate Xvart fortress near the farmer by patching the world map (I don't know if there's a formal tutorial anywhere, but some mods do add WMAP areas, so it shouldn't be too hard to borrow code). Xvarts would have to travel like 3 days to go from their village to the farm and back, and I suppose they aren't going to raid that particular farm as regularly as the dialogue implies.

 

i was going to suggest this myself, but i have a bit of a different idea. on that map there is a cave with the poison creature (whatever it's called, i haven't had my coffee yet) and the web trap. why don't you change it so that when you walk in there it looks like the cave from the gnoll stronghold (perhaps mirrored so it's a bit different) and fill it with xvarts ... better yet, maybe you could use the map from the undead village in the bottom of the unseeing eye pit and make it like a separate mini xvart village in a cave.

[jastey]

If I hear patching the Worldmap I run screaming, especially since I am talking about BG1 compatibility?

 

Making the cave a Xvart cave would be a good idea, but replacing existing areas is a no-go, for compatibility and continuity reasons.

 

If the Xvart village is too far away, it is still easy to add a dialogue option to Hulrik, where the PC can tell about the village "almost three days travel from here" and Hulrik sais that these are probably not the ones that terrorise him. This could be used for a quest extention with a custom xvart area, but it doesn't have to.

[the bigg]

If I hear patching the Worldmap I run screaming, especially since I am talking about BG1 compatibility?

Fields of the Dead adds a new worldmap area to BG1, so it can be done. I don't know if Echon already has coverted that section from overwriting to patching (and can thus provide you with patch-rific code). For BG2, your best bet is asking for advice on SHS - many mods there add new WMap areas, and might even provide you with compatibility code for the Worldmap mod.

[Miloch]

For BG2, your best bet is asking for advice on SHS - many mods there add new WMap areas, and might even provide you with compatibility code for the Worldmap mod.

I updated SConrad's worldmap-patching function for an as-yet unpublished mod. (Possibly he pinched some code from you since there's tb# variables buried in it too.) I guess I could post it somewhere if you want to include it in WeiDU. (I'd rather *not* do the documentation for this one though, since I'm not absolutely sure how it works myself, just that it does seem to work, but I guess I could be conned into it if no one else will do it... can't be harder than the area-patching documentation, can it? .)

 

Doing a new area involves a lot more than just patching the worldmap though - you have to design the area actually, or at least pinch it from another game.

 

Not sure if xvarts would have a fortress though. This if from the 1st ed. Fiend Folio (the only reference on them I could find):

Xvarts are mediary between goblins and kobolds and will generally attack the latter. They fear humans and will only attack a human party if the xvarts are greatly in the majority... Xvarts delight in taking prisoners for torture or ransom (or both). They have been known to assist or be assisted by wererats in these endeavours. Their lair is usually in an underground cavern or deep in the heart of a forest.

Doesn't say anything about gnolls and I doubt they have any real relations with them (just happen to be in the same area). There's already one xvart village sort of in a forest, others in caves - another lair kinda seems excessive.

[Wisp]

Not sure if xvarts would have a fortress though. This if from the 1st ed. Fiend Folio (the only reference on them I could find)

There's some in the Monstrous Manual Fiend Folio Appendix (2nd Ed):

Xvarts are a cruel, cowardly race of humanoids which live in hilly, cavernous regions. [...] Xvarts will lair in a complex of caves or in the deep forest. [...] Xvarts live a communal existence, with hunting parties going out daily to try to gather food for the tribe. Xvarts will kill livestock or small animals, or raid farms for crops. Xvarts are not fussy eaters, and will adopt almost any diet.

[jastey]

I could imagine a cave or two near the farmer. Doesn't have to be a big village. Thank you both for the info!

 

And it is about time to automize the addition of a new Worldmap area.

[Dakk]

It would be an awesome addition to BGQE. And there's something sneaky enjoyable about going after xvarts too...

[jastey]

Poor little creatures! Well, not if they take prisoners for torture.

 

I am not good at area creation. The worldmap icons alone are complicated (if you want them to look agreeable).

I could populate an area if I have it, and I probably could also steal code to add a new area to the worldmap, though.

[Miloch]

If it's a sub-area (like a cave) you don't need to patch the worldmap. You just need to patch its parent area. There's a function (and even documentation) here for that. Aurora's Shoes adds several such areas that way without ever patching the worldmap.

 

Edit: for the cave, you can just swipe one from one of the IWDs, BG2 or even PS:T, or mirror one like joshuar9476 suggested. To make it real, you'll need to add a BAM to the parent area for the cave entrance. I guess I could help with that if you can kind of point to where you want it and what you want to use for the cave.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Miloch