Which NPC mods for BG2 would you recommend?

[Guest Silverbow]

Hi guys,

 

I just finished playing BG1 with the NPC project mod, five parties, using all NPCs (took just some three years ).

 

That said, I want to take the 5 PCs into BG2, which however is lacking enough joinable NPCs. And there's so many mods around...

 

I'm looking for NPCs to fill the slots below, though the parties could be shaken up a bit (will likely be hard to find enough evil/neutral mod NPCs):

 

Altheus - *Jaheira (romance), *Minsc, *Imoen/Yoshimo, Nalia, TBD

Marwin - *Aerie (romance), *Keldorn, *Mazzy, Valygar, TBD

Jollienne - *Anomen (romance), Haer'Dalis, Jan, TBD, TBD

Keese - *Viconia (romance), *Edwin, Cernd, TBD, TBD

Thalassa - *Korgan, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD

* denotes fixture

 

Any ideas much appreciated. Thanks!

[Guest Guest_Ipsy_*]

In party 1, I would recommend theacefes' Auren Aseph, who has a romance with Nalia, or Keto, who has a "romance" of sorts with Yoshimo. Keto is SoA only, but you could replace her with Sarevok or Iylos (mod).

Party 2: Meira's Amber, berelinde's Gavin, or jastey's Ajantis. Unfortunately, none have ToB content at this time.

Party 3: kulyok's Xan, sistervigilante's Angelo, Kova and Kiyone from Beyond the Law (neither of whom have ToB content)

Party 4: Sebastian and Andrei Luxley (Luxley Family mod; also no ToB content, sadly)

Party 5: Ninde and Valen (can't think of any others)

 

All listed here.

There really are a lot of good-aligned NPCs, almost too many.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Miriam and Callisto are all the evil you need.

[Sister Vigilante]

Not to pimp my own mod, but I'd also really like to see Angelo in a party with a Chaotic Neutral female berserker elf...

[cmorgan]

And you have a great, awesome, very cool way of exploring the game content!

[Guest Silverbow]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

A few questions:

- does no SoA content mean a NPC can be used in SoA, just won't have any dialogs?

- is Keto different in that regard? Would be nice to have a slot open up for Sarres in the first party.

 

I went through the NPCs list and these are who I'm considering:

 

Amber (CG, thief) - for party 2

Angelo (CN, F/M) - 3, 5

Auren Aseph (NG, fighter) - 1, 2, 3

Kova (CG, M/T) + Kiyone (LG, archer) - 2

Fade (CN, thief) - 3, 4, 5

Gavin (G, cleric) - 1, 2

Kelsey (NG, sorc) - 1, 2, 3

Keto (NG, bard) - 1, 2, 3

Kindrek (CE, zerk) - 4, 5

Miriam (CE, thief) - 4, 5

Callisto (CE, fighter) - 4, 5

Ninafer (LN, F/M) - 3, 4, 5

Ninde (E, necro) - 4, 5

Sarah (CG, ranger) - 3

Tsujatha (NE, necro) - 5

Tyris (NG, F/M) - 2, 3

Xan (LN, mage) - 3

The Luxleys (LN monk & CN bard) - 4, 5

 

Of the officials:

Jan - can go 1, 3, 4, 5

HD - 2, 3, 5

Nalia - 1, 2, 3

Valygar - 1, 2, 3

Cernd - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

 

Thoughts?

 

I was thinking:

1 - Jaheira, Imoen/Yoshimo, Minsc, Nalia, Auren/Gavin/Keto/Sarres/Kelsey

2 - Aerie, Keldorn, Mazzy, Valygar/Haer'Dalis, Amber

3 - Anomen, Haer'Dalis/Valygar, Jan/Fade, Xan/Kelsey, Angelo/Sarah/Tyris/Auren

4 - Viconia, Edwin, Fade/Jan, Cernd, Ninafer

5 - Korgan, Miriam, Callisto, Tsujatha/Ninde, Kindrek

 

Still a lot of questions open. Too many goodie NPCs and lack of evil ones.

[berelinde]

No ToB content means that the NPC can be used in ToB but that they will be a silent pack mule.

[Guest Guest_Ipsy_*]

From my own experience with them, I would not recommend Tsujatha, Fade, Miriam, Callisto, or Kindrek; they never felt like a part of the game, and always stood out, whereas some mod NPCs feel almost like they were "meant to be there."

 

You should also keep in mind that some of these characters are romanceable, and will show interest in the PC if he/she fits their requirements.

 

In party 1, I'd either use Keto and swap her for Sarry afterwards, or have Auren and Nalia for their romance. In party 2, I'd use Haer'Dalis and Amber, because they have some interesting dialogues. In 3, Valygar and Jan in the same party can be quite entertaining, and personally I prefer Xan to Kelsey. To round things out, I'd add Angelo or Sarah. In 4: I almost always take Jan because I think he's hilarious, but that's just me. In 5: Valen's pretty cool too. I would definitely take Ninde over Tsujatha though.

[Guest Silverbow]

OK guys thanks for the help, I think I'll settle on this:

 

1 - Jaheira (romance), Imoen (Yoshimo), Minsc, Nalia, Auren

2 - Aerie (romance), Keldorn, Mazzy, Amber, Keto (/Sarevok?)

3 - Sarah (romance), Valygar, Jan, Cernd, Tyris

4 - Viconia (romance), Edwin, Fade, Haer'Dalis, Angelo

5 - Anomen (romance), Korgan, Miriam, Callisto, Ninde

 

Any comments on the setup? Anything you find particularly incompatible?

[Guest Silverbow]

Oh and BTW any recommended mods aside from those NPC ones?

[Ipsy]

- Tales of the Deep Gardens--intriguing but bizarre quest

- Wheels of Prophecy--makes ToB less linear

- Alternatives--adds two alternative routes to Spellhold

- Ascension--also adds to ToB

- Assassinations--contract killings, basically

- Dungeon Crawl--tongue-in-cheek quest based on the webcomic of the same name

- Fading Promises--short-ish quest

- Jerry Zinger Show, if you like joke mods

- Quest Pack--a bunch of mini-quests

- Tower of Deception--fun dungeon-crawl with a cool item and boss battles

- Unfinished Business--quests and cut content

- Turnabout--allows you to summon former allies against Melissan-e.g. Xzar, Gorion, or Dynaheir; requires Ascension.

 

All here.

 

I would also recommend the Interaction Expansion Project and NPC Friendships, and the PPG Banter pack. Aurora's Shoes and Boots is interesting--it has some weird but fun and useful items, and a couple quests/encounters. And at some point you should probably play the Edwin Romance, because it's great

 

I would also suggest that you not play megamods. If you *do* want to, though, make sure to download the "Big Picture" versions from Spellhold Studios instead for better compatibility with other mods. But I've tried several (The Darkest Day, Check the Bodies, and Shadows over Soubar) and didn't like any of them.

[Sister Vigilante]

I would definitely not play ToB without Wheels of Prophecy. I even played Wheels of Prophecy without Ascension and thought it was great, though I'm told they work best together.

[Guest Silverbow]

Thanks for the tips on other mods.

 

I made one change, replaced Fade with Valen, since Fade won't let me side with Bodhi, and that party wants that...

 

I'm also seeing that Ninde needs you to side with STs as well!? I might end up having to use Tsujatha :/

[Guest Guest_Ipsy_*]

Tsujatha is romanceable, and will doggedly pursue a female PC if she is of good alignment. I really really don't like the character and his banters with the Bioware NPCs and would actually prefer to play Hessa or, gods forbid, Alassa--but that's my opinion.

 

Ninde only shows up if you side with Aran, though perhaps there's a way around that.

 

Maybe you could use Yoshimo until Spellhold and grab Tiax instead?

 

Also, I've heard Kido (CE human jester) is interesting, or entertaining at least. He's supposed to be like a weird combination of Xzar and Eldoth.

[Guest Silverbow]

Tsujatha is romanceable, and will doggedly pursue a female PC if she is of good alignment. I really really don't like the character and his banters with the Bioware NPCs and would actually prefer to play Hessa or, gods forbid, Alassa--but that's my opinion.

 

Ninde only shows up if you side with Aran, though perhaps there's a way around that.

 

Maybe you could use Yoshimo until Spellhold and grab Tiax instead?

 

Also, I've heard Kido (CE human jester) is interesting, or entertaining at least. He's supposed to be like a weird combination of Xzar and Eldoth.

You know, I've never sided with Bodhi before (which is way too funny because I played BG2 an awful lot). I wonder if I can even get Edwin that way.

 

Or maybe I could just have party 4 side with thieves and 5 with vampires?

 

4a - Viconia (romance), Edwin, Fade, Haer'Dalis, Ninde - magic heavy

4b - Viconia (romance), Edwin, Fade, Haer'Dalis, Callisto - melee focus

 

5a - Anomen (romance), Korgan, Valen, Callisto, Angelo- melee focus

5b - Anomen (romance), Korgan, Valen, Miriam, Angelo - vampire focus

 

Which variants do you think preferable?

 

Not sure how much of a vampire friend poor Angelo is though.