Where should I put Gavin?

[berelinde]

I've said any number of times that Gavin should be recruitable in the Temple of Ilmater... but there are actually two: one in Waukeen's Promenade and one on the roof of the Copper Coronet. I'd kind of thought I might put him in the one in Waukeen's Promenade, but now that I'm thinking about it, the one on the roof of the Copper Coronet might be a better pick.

 

1. Kivan goes to the temple in Waukeen's Promenade.
   
2. I'm not fond of the bums' rush of all the NPCs who swarm you within moments of leaving Chateau Irenicus.
   
3. The story I'm giving is that Gavin's broke as a joke. He hasn't even got one copper left, he's on the verge of selling what little equipment he hasn't already sold, and he certainly hasn't got money to be sipping tea with Lord and Lady Ophal.
   

 

All of that tempts me to put him in the Temple of Ilmater on the roof of the Copper Coronet. The disadvantage being that there's a nasty encounter right in front of the temple.

 

Thoughts? Is the encounter too much of a deterrent to obtaining Gavin?

 

The mod is still quite a ways from done, but I'm gearing up for an installable private alpha to make sure all the spawns work and that some key dialogues and scripts work. So yeah, that means there's been a lot of progress, lately.

[Shaitan]

I'd say put him on top of the CC, that is a more obvious place for Gavin.

[yarpen]

Why not the temple of Lathander?

[Eleima]

My first impulse was "forget Kivan, put him in the Promenade so I can get him ASAP". Then I slowed though and mulled it over for a bit, read your reasoning in your post, and thought that putting him in the Ilmater temple above the Copper Coronet made a lot more sense roleplaying-wise (and that's always my first priority).

Then I scrolled down to type in my answer, and read Yarpen's suggestion, which got me thinking. Gavin is a cleric of Lathander, so why wouldn't he stay in that temple?? Oooh, is because of a certain spoilerish encounter nearby??

 

Anyways, I'm glad to hear that you're making progress, and wish you all the best with the toils ahead. Hang in there, impatient fan girls are still out there, eagerly awaiting to get their hands on Gavin!!!

[the bigg]

It's nice to see a mod author concerned about not forcing players to journey to Mount Doom at level 7 to recruit/keep their NPC, but the encounter on top of the CC is not any harder than getting Aerie.

[Shaitan]

It's nice to see a mod author concerned about not forcing players to journey to Mount Doom at level 7 to recruit/keep their NPC, but the encounter on top of the CC is not any harder than getting Aerie.

Yeah, (ignoring DBG) many have had some kind of challenges in Irenicus's prison.

[berelinde]

Yeah, Yarpen, you would think that he should go in the Temple of Lathander. It would make sense for him, being a Lathandrite and all. The only problem with that is that there is an encounter nearby that is absolutley essential to Gavin's story. That encounter is the entire reason Gavin the NPC exists. If I stick Gavin in the Lathandrite temple, I can't control how that encounter will play out, and that's death to the mod, from a storyline point of view.

 

Besides, the joining dialogue, that encounter's scripts, and all dialogues relating to that encounter are already written.

 

So it's going to be one of the temples of Ilmater, it only remains to see which one. Since the PC has the potential to go up on the rooftop really early in Chapter 2, it shouldn't be too bad. Since the PC also has the potential to do so with a full party (if s/he recruits some combination of Minsc, Jaheira, Yoshimio, Anomen, Nalia, or Kivan), s/he stands an excellent chance of surviving that encounter... though I'll test it first, of course.

[Ankhesenpaaten]

Maybe this is kinda dumb...but after the destruction at the promenade I would think he would be there hoping to help any wounded, and hoping Charname is there. After all, in BG1 he was forever following Charname around and healing her and anyplace she would be hurt there he would be.

 

Dumb? Maybe. But even tho he is a Lathandrite I think he would, as a healer, be in the Promenade.

 

 

Just looked at the votes. Damn it...looks like it won't go my way!

 

 

Wait...does this mean he's coming out in a few days?

[Shaitan]

Wait...does this mean he's coming out in a few days?

The mod is still quite a ways from done, but I'm gearing up for an installable private alpha to make sure all the spawns work and that some key dialogues and scripts work. So yeah, that means there's been a lot of progress, lately.

 

[berelinde]

Wait...does this mean he's coming out in a few days?

It means that I'll be testing an installable alpha in a few days. There won't be any kind of a romance to speak of.

 

I learned with Gavin for BG1 that testing each step of the mod can prevent the kind of fiasco I had with Gavin's first public alpha. I'm not going to do that again.

 

Phase 1, the first private alpha, will just make sure that all the spawns work, that he joins as expected, that the initial encounter sequence runs as intended, and that party management features are fully functional. That's it.

 

Phase 2 will include fully implemented banters and interjections, skeletal dialogues with the PC, a preliminary PID menu, and rudimentary flirts. That one, too will never be publicly released.

 

Phase 3 will include all available SoA content. That's the first one that I'll make available for public beta-testing, once it passes preliminary alpha-testing.

 

Phase 4 will include everything for ToB.

 

Right now, I'm gearing up for testing Phase 1.

[Ankhesenpaaten]

Thank you for explaining. That clears a lot up for me. I understand that you've learned many things the hard way modding. Take care of yourself and your computer and do what you must. I'll be waiting!

[berelinde]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

 

A lot of the Phase 2 material is written, but I want to make sure that the framework is solid before I go piling more on top of it.

[KIrving]

The temple on top of the Copper Coronet makes the most sense to me.

It's great to hear that development for the mod is going well. Keep up the good work.

[KIrving]

Okay, just had a possibly, pertinent thought. If someone decides to fully roleplay a pc that is in a relationship with Gavin from BG1 and after becoming separated from him tries to search for him, it seems logical that she would probably hot foot it to the temple district to begin that search. Perhaps an interjection could be added in if she enquires at the church of Lathander. Of course they may know nothing about his whereabouts, or only a rumour, however I could imagine the pc wanting to ask there first about her lover/fiancee.

[yarpen]

Yeah, Yarpen, you would think that he should go in the Temple of Lathander. It would make sense for him, being a Lathandrite and all. The only problem with that is that there is an encounter nearby that is absolutley essential to Gavin's story. That encounter is the entire reason Gavin the NPC exists. If I stick Gavin in the Lathandrite temple, I can't control how that encounter will play out, and that's death to the mod, from a storyline point of view.

I know. It's just too obvious for him to be there. And seriously, personally I don't like fact that he'll be in this temple at CC. Why? Because proper NPCs aren't in semi-random places. When you'd go there in natural gaming way? Is it a part of quest? Yoshimos' one, after Spellhold. Most of players without reading readme would never notice this place. I think that it'd be better (because Gavin comes from BG1) that you can even meet him on road, when traveling from Athkatla to other places (random encounter, like Drizzit's one) where you're helping him fight against few wolves or bandits (or allowing him to die).