Mod NPC Idea

[the bigg]

Point taken about the backing up in event of hard drive failure, but at this point, I can't even turn my computer on, and am posting on my girlfriend's computer.

It's still possible to hook up the hard drive to an healthy machine and recover what files you want to save. If you're unsure on how to do it, your computer-enthusiast IRL friend will be happy to do it for you (a computer repair service would be equally able, but this type of thing costs incredible amounts of money for no reason at all).

 

Anywho, another thought for the possible Naomi/Aerie romance - if I do make it a separate component, would it violate the unwritten rule if Naomi/Aerie did override Haer'Dalis/Aerie, while not installing that component would leave Naomi/Aerie only as friends?

Most people will blindly install all the components and complain that things stopped working. In the event the player has the full trio in the party, I'd have both Haer and Naomi go through two or three Getting To Know You dialogues, and then offload the choice of which romantic path to follow on the player.

If you're an astoundingly good writer, you can have Aerie be unsure on whom she should turn down, and then have her ask CHARNAME for a suggestion (which she ends up following).

If you aren't an astoundingly good writer, it's more credible to have Haer and Naomi argue so much that the player is forced to kick either one out of the party (a la Aerie vs. Korgan). If you keep Naomi, Aerie and Naomi start their "official" romance, and after one or two talks Naomi mentions that it was excessive to ask you to kick out Haer, and tells that you can re-recruit him if you so wish. Same thing goes on if you kept Haer.

[Endless Twilight]

Most people will blindly install all the components and complain that things stopped working. In the event the player has the full trio in the party, I'd have both Haer and Naomi go through two or three Getting To Know You dialogues, and then offload the choice of which romantic path to follow on the player.

If you're an astoundingly good writer, you can have Aerie be unsure on whom she should turn down, and then have her ask CHARNAME for a suggestion (which she ends up following).

If you aren't an astoundingly good writer, it's more credible to have Haer and Naomi argue so much that the player is forced to kick either one out of the party (a la Aerie vs. Korgan). If you keep Naomi, Aerie and Naomi start their "official" romance, and after one or two talks Naomi mentions that it was excessive to ask you to kick out Haer, and tells that you can re-recruit him if you so wish. Same thing goes on if you kept Haer.

 

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm not so sure it fits Naomi, who is rather shy about expressing interest in anyone. She only mentions offhand that she thinks Aerie is a very beautiful girl, and is caught off guard when Aerie asks if Naomi meant that remark. I can't see Naomi being bold enough to make a love triangle - she may be direct and aggressive in some areas, but she'll most likely to her share of stammering and embarrassing herself in a romance with Charname.

 

Haer'Dalis and Naomi are philisophical opposites to begin with, though. Naomi's philosophy is fundamentally constructive, bringing order out of chaos by beating chaos in the face until it cries uncle, and she has a decidedly provincial point of view. Haer'Dalis, well...

[Guest Guest]

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm not so sure it fits Naomi, who is rather shy about expressing interest in anyone. She only mentions offhand that she thinks Aerie is a very beautiful girl, and is caught off guard when Aerie asks if Naomi meant that remark. I can't see Naomi being bold enough to make a love triangle - she may be direct and aggressive in some areas, but she'll most likely to her share of stammering and embarrassing herself in a romance with Charname.

 

Haer'Dalis and Naomi are philisophical opposites to begin with, though. Naomi's philosophy is fundamentally constructive, bringing order out of chaos by beating chaos in the face until it cries uncle, and she has a decidedly provincial point of view. Haer'Dalis, well...

 

The arguments could revolve around concern for Haer'Dalis' philosophies for Aerie's well-being, the concern of a friend, not necessarily a romantic interest. And then once Charname has picked, the romance proper could begin.

[Endless Twilight]

The arguments could revolve around concern for Haer'Dalis' philosophies for Aerie's well-being, the concern of a friend, not necessarily a romantic interest. And then once Charname has picked, the romance proper could begin.

 

I'm just not sure Naomi would be bold enough to talk to Haer'Dalis about Aerie, even with the concern of a friend.

 

For reference, here is a draft of the banter that would serve as the main lead-in to Naomi indicating romantic interest in Aerie - this demonstrates why Naomi is confused and fascinated by Aerie:

 

Aerie: Naomi, you seem obsessed with power.

Naomi: That is one way to look at my ethos, yes.

Aerie: What other way is there? You tell me that I am unhappy b-because I don't have power...

Naomi: Power can mean many different things, Aerie. An orc values physical force and calls it power. A scholar values knowledge and calls that his power.

Aerie: And what does it mean to you?

Naomi: To me, power is the ability to weave order from chaos. To establish law, create peace, instate justice. Whatever can work towards those ends is my power.

Aerie: W-what do you think power is to me?

Naomi: For you... strange as it sounds, I think you find power in happiness. That's the only explanation I can think of for you clinging so desperately to the lie that you are weak.

Aerie: The lie?

Naomi: Your situation... is a strange one. Such a bizarre juxtaposition of strength and weakness. I... I don't understand you, Aerie. And that is troubling.

Aerie: W-why do I trouble y-you?

Naomi: Selflessness. Hope. Innocence. Conventional wisdom maintains the folly of such. I don't understand... I need time to think. We'll... we'll talk later, Aerie.

[Ipsy]

Interesting idea, certainly. But Aerie seems somewhat frightened by Naomi--hence her stutter--and she just keeps asking questions. The concept behind this conversation is an intriguing one, but Aerie seems incredibly naive, and her responses seem more to continue the conversation than to establish a sense of their relationship. I understand that this is just a draft, and viewed out of context at that. I think it would need several earlier conversations for this to make sense. If my opinion makes a difference in this context, I think that Aerie should have some actual comments rather than her questions.

 

Absolutely no offence intended, Endless Twilight. It's just that, to me, the conversation seems too contrived in its present state. If it's not too much trouble, perhaps it would work better to split it into several talks--perhaps they'd talk about power if, say, Naomi commented on the chaos of Athkatla and its weak, corrupt government, and how if the government had sufficient strength, it could make the city a better place; Aerie might respond that she hadn't really thought about "absolute power" being used like that.

 

Also, Aerie is IMO quite shy; I'm not so sure that she'd just speak up like that.

 

Last, just an observation: Naomi's philosophy makes me think of Thomas Hobbes and Friedrich Nietzsche

[Daxuis]

Being from Zhentil keep, I wonder her whole relation with Xzar/Monty. The Harpers can become quite the forced quest upon any player, but with Xzar being an open Zhent, I wonder if there would be anything beyond just simple extra dialogue.

[Endless Twilight]

Thank you for the criticism. As I said, this was only a draft, more to get a sense of why Naomi is interested in Aerie. Aerie stuttering is one of my biggest problems when writing her, frankly - I've been having Aerie stutter when she's unsure of herself, not when she's frightened.

 

This was the preceding dialogue, if it helps the context:

 

Naomi: Aerie, would it offend you if I asked what it was like to fly?

Aerie: It is difficult to describe... it is so beautiful in the air, so free to go anywhere, do anything...

Naomi: That does sound beautiful, to soar above all others and look down upon the world below.

Aerie: That... I don't like the sound of that. I never wanted to look down on others.

Naomi: Yet now you look up at them. I've seen your kind of behavior before.

Aerie: You have?

Naomi: You lost your power, rights and privileges you took for granted. Now you are fallen, and others have power over you. Not an uncommon turn of events for the foolish.

Aerie: Go away, Naomi! Th-this isn't about power!

Naomi: As you wish.

 

Being from Zhentil keep, I wonder her whole relation with Xzar/Monty. The Harpers can become quite the forced quest upon any player, but with Xzar being an open Zhent, I wonder if there would be anything beyond just simple extra dialogue.

 

She's not from Zhentil Keep, per se - she's from the surrounding region, and Naomi has no relation to Xzar or Montaron. She is not one of the Zhentarim and is in Amn for completely unrelated reasons. I don't know if Naomi would have anything at all to say about Xzar and Montaron.

[berelinde]

One of the biggest gripes I have about mod added NPCs, my own included, is that it's always about the mod-added NPC. It's about the mod NPC's expectations and beliefs, not the canon NPCs. It serves to illuminate the mod NPC, not the BioWare one. The mod NPC gets the punchline and all of the longer lines, and the BioWare NPC is just there for the set-up.

 

Naomi is not unique in this. Heck, I've done it myself. It's just something I'm aware of, and I don't think I'm the only one.

[Daxuis]

I wasn't implying a centralizing point, perhaps even just an aside comment about the Zhentarium at most or best.

 

I don't mean to derail the topic though, but I'd be curious to see character stats... as odd as it may seem, those 6 numbers and weapon proficiency stars can flesh out a character a bit, in my opinion at least.

[Endless Twilight]

One of the biggest gripes I have about mod added NPCs, my own included, is that it's always about the mod-added NPC. It's about the mod NPC's expectations and beliefs, not the canon NPCs. It serves to illuminate the mod NPC, not the BioWare one. The mod NPC gets the punchline and all of the longer lines, and the BioWare NPC is just there for the set-up.

 

Point taken, Berelinde, and you're one of the writers I have the most respect for.

 

However, I'm wary of adding things to Aerie's personality that aren't already in canon, for the same reason I'm still not sure if I want to write an Aerie/Naomi romance all other things aside, because there are no indications in canon that Aerie is bisexual. A couple of dialogue sketches I have between Aerie and Naomi, for example, talk about Aerie's relationship with her parents, whom we know virtually nothing about, especially her father.

 

Ah well. As I've said, my ideas for an Aerie/Naomi romance have at least given me plenty of food for thought for Naomi's romance with Charname - how Naomi acts when things get romantic (read: she feels very awkward, and can easily turn to stammering and possibly stuttering if Charname is strong and confident in return), and ideas for things Naomi and Charname can talk about.

 

I don't mean to derail the topic though, but I'd be curious to see character stats... as odd as it may seem, those 6 numbers and weapon proficiency stars can flesh out a character a bit, in my opinion at least.

 

This is VERY tentative:

 

Str: 16

Dex: 8

Con: 14

Wis: 17

Int: 14

Cha: 10

 

Weapons... I'm thinking she'll start with a flail and be oriented around using a shield, at least to begin with.

[Ipsy]

Her Dex is very low indeed...10 is considered about the average for humans, whereas 18 is truly exceptional and nigh-unheard of. The problem with her 8 dexterity is that her combat abilities will suffer accordingly. As she's a half-elf, about 12-15 would be okay, I think. 16 is also a fairly impressive strength score, though if she's a warrior type it's probably justifiable. The others seem fine to me

[Ipsy]

Aaargh! Double-post, sorry. Can someone please delete this?

[Endless Twilight]

Her Dex is very low indeed...10 is considered about the average for humans, whereas 18 is truly exceptional and nigh-unheard of. The problem with her 8 dexterity is that her combat abilities will suffer accordingly. As she's a half-elf, about 12-15 would be okay, I think. 16 is also a fairly impressive strength score, though if she's a warrior type it's probably justifiable. The others seem fine to me

 

Naomi may be half-elf, but she is not the most graceful knife in the drawer. If Charname asks, she'll note that part of why she's terrible at painting is her abysmal hand-eye coordination.

[berelinde]

That 8 dex isn intriguing! It's a serious handicap and I applaud you for that, but I'm curious to see how it plays out in dialogue. Is it an all-over thing or is it specific? Is it reflected in dialogue? For example, does she fumble things in dialogue or is it just a cosmetic dex hit, perceivable in the AC but little else?

 

These aren't questions I'm asking just to be difficult. It's always fascinating when an NPC has a lower-than-average stat and it turns up in dialogue. Maybe she ha poor hand-eye coordination or maybe it's something else, but writing for characters that have a sub-average stat is always a lot of fun. I hope you make the mot of it! Cheers, for giving her an interesting talking point!

[Endless Twilight]

That 8 dex isn intriguing! It's a serious handicap and I applaud you for that, but I'm curious to see how it plays out in dialogue. Is it an all-over thing or is it specific? Is it reflected in dialogue? For example, does she fumble things in dialogue or is it just a cosmetic dex hit, perceivable in the AC but little else?

 

These aren't questions I'm asking just to be difficult. It's always fascinating when an NPC has a lower-than-average stat and it turns up in dialogue. Maybe she ha poor hand-eye coordination or maybe it's something else, but writing for characters that have a sub-average stat is always a lot of fun. I hope you make the mot of it! Cheers, for giving her an interesting talking point!

 

A few of the banters I've written refer to Naomi being a bit of a klutz on occasion - Viconia lampoons Naomi about how anyone with elf blood could be downright clumsy, and Yoshimo cheats her blind in a card game because she can't shuffle a deck of cards successfully and has to ask him to do it for her, leading of course to him stacking the deck. I hadn't planned for it to be anything more than a few things like that... although I do keep considering the idea that when the time comes for Naomi and Charname's first kiss, if Charname leaves it to Naomi to do the honors, she may... miss.