[resolved] Starting a new romance once you've ended another?

[genie]

So, I picked up Coran well into the game (5th chapter), and by then my romance with Xan had already been committed. However, I'm playing a CN half-elf, so I decided to end the relationship when Xan bought up the futility of pursuing a romance with a half-elf one too many times. Unfortunately, since I picked up Coran when the relationship was still active, the romance globals didn't get set for Coran, and instead my PC started down his friendship path.

 

Is there a way to change Coran's friendship to a romance, and change my failed relationship Xan into a friendship? (Either with the PID or console?) I broke it off with Xan at L18.

 

I'm running BGT/BWP, have the core romance modules installed, as well as the Xan and Coran friendship add-ons installed.

 

edit: Never mind, I fiddled around with the variables in Shadowkeeper and managed to make it work.

[Kulyok]

Xan breaks the half-elf romance anyway(Domi's idea), so you didn't miss much. I recall his friendship path Global("O#XanBG1Friendship","GLOBAL",1) starts automatically afterwards.

 

If you like Coran's company, by the way, BG1 NPC has a component which opens the first Cloakwood forest area early in the game, so you can take Coran just as you meet Khalid and Jaheira in the Friendly Arm Inn. And check out Hanali's cycle in Coran's dialogue - Domi's writing at her best; the most erotic cycle of talks in BG1 bar none, I'd say.

[Nilfalasiel]

Xan breaks the half-elf romance anyway(Domi's idea), so you didn't miss much. I recall his friendship path Global("O#XanBG1Friendship","GLOBAL",1) starts automatically afterwards.

 

I'm curious about this one, actually. My current character is a half-elf whom I'm planning to test out Edwin's romance with, come BG2, so she's whiling away BG1 with Coran. However, since I read that Xan was supposed to break off the half-elven romance, I didn't bother discouraging him either, out of curiosity to see that particular branch (I tried the bonded path on my previous playthrough...the feels!). But when is he supposed to do it? I thought it would happen during the "can you survive without my services?" talk, and that there either wouldn't be an option to tell him to stay because you felt the same, or he would refuse anyway. However, the option was there, and it apparently worked too (he gave the same response as he would to an elf). At that point, I reloaded and just turned off his romance via CLUA Console, because I wasn't going to romance him and forcing him to stay felt rather heartless. Problem is, I must've borked something in the process, because now I get "Xan has nothing to say to you" whenever I try to talk to him. My best guess is that the state I set is the same one as if I'd forced him to stay >< It's no big deal, but I am still wondering when he was supposed to break off the romance.

 

Also, thanks for the heads-up regarding Coran. I'd never tried the Hanali talks, because I've always played my Bhaalspawn as non-affiliated to a deity (it made sense to me to have them discover in hindsight why they never felt like they needed divine protection), but now...I might just try it out!

[Kulyok]

Hanali talks are VERY sexy.

 

With Xan, I was wrong in my previous post, I think: the post-breakup friendship path for Xan starts only if your romance wasn't committed(i.e. if you went so far that your X#XaRomanceActive variable went to 2, it means that your friendship path won't start - which makes sense story-wise).

 

Now for Xan's breakup: it happens a few dialogues later, well after the kiss/sausage dialogue, if I recall. Turning romances off via CLUAConsole is naturally not recommended, because BG1 NPC uses a complicated system of variables. Here's what might work:

 

SetGlobal("X#XARomanceActive","GLOBAL",2)

SetGlobal("X#XARomanceInactive","GLOBAL",1)

SetGlobal("O#XanBG1Friendship","GLOBAL",1)

 

Notice that you are gaming the system here: if you really want Xan's friendship and not romance, you're naturally not supposed to go as far as "Can you survive without my services?" - this one is a heart-breaker.

[Nilfalasiel]

Now for Xan's breakup: it happens a few dialogues later, well after the kiss/sausage dialogue, if I recall. Turning romances off via CLUAConsole is naturally not recommended, because BG1 NPC uses a complicated system of variables. Here's what might work:

 

SetGlobal("X#XARomanceActive","GLOBAL",2)

SetGlobal("X#XARomanceInactive","GLOBAL",1)

SetGlobal("O#XanBG1Friendship","GLOBAL",1)

 

Notice that you are gaming the system here: if you really want Xan's friendship and not romance, you're naturally not supposed to go as far as "Can you survive without my services?" - this one is a heart-breaker.

 

Yeah, I know, I mentally kicked myself afterwards for dragging it out that far. At first, when I thought the breakup would happen during that particular dialogue, my intent was to RP my Bhaalspawn as oblivious to Xan's developing interest and then let him go when she heard just how badly he'd fallen. But then 1) I'm a bit of an EXP hog, so I like to pawn off my spare spell scrolls to the mages who aren't in my party every once in a while: if Xan left, that would be one mage less (yes, it's a silly reason), 2) as the talks progressed, I realised she'd have to be VERY oblivious not to realise anything, and 3) I forgot just how sad that dialogue was, so I just totally took pity on the poor guy when it fired. At first, I thought I could pre-emptively kick him out of the party, but then I realised the dialogue would fire anyway if I ever recruited him again. So I fiddled with the variable, but then I couldn't remove him from the party at all, because I couldn't recruit him again due to the "Xan has nothing to say to you" problem. So basically, I played myself into a corner and got stuck with a silent Xan in my party: a silent walking reproach to my Bhaalspawn's fickleness.

 

She's a bad, bad girl. Clearly, she deserves Edwin

 

Thanks for the variables though, I'll try them out. And lol @ "sausage dialogue".

[Kulyok]

Heh, Edwin was the romance that got me into modding - and the first mod I seriously fell in love with. (The second one was the Longer Road's Irenicus, which, I suppose, speaks plenty about me). I remember sitting in the underground with a blissful smile, mooning over Edwin, I was that much in love. *Still* love it - and would recommend Laufey's Thayvian Tales to everyone.

 

On-topic, though, it's an interesting tendency I see - that there's this wish for late romance - friendship switch for Xan. Indeed, Coran's romance is quite short, and who in their right mind would turn an extra romance off of their own accord? Since I will be updating Xan's friendship for BG:EE/correcting typos, I might as well add something for this. I can just imagine the conversation:

 

PC: ...So I want to be friends with you.

Xan: And you think it is not a doomed endeavor, do you?

PC: Well, why not? You do want to make love to me, right? And there's BG2, and I might change my mind, yet(uh-huh, don't count on it. Ooops, did I say this out loud?)

Xan: (sigh) CHARNAME, go away.

PC: Please? Pretty please, with a naked Bhaalspawn on top? By the way, speaking of naked: last night Coran finally brought me the moon from the sky, and we...

Xan: (groan) Corellon, why would you punish me so?

[Nilfalasiel]

I skimmed through some of the Thayvian Tales, although my impression was that Edwin's characterisation wasn't quite the same as in the mod (he seemed almost too...nice). At least by comparison with the early stages of the romance, which I got to see on a scrapped character. Still, those early stages were great fun (the "Edwin gets drunk on potions" episode had me in stitches), which is why I want to see the full thing now.

 

On-topic, though, it's an interesting tendency I see - that there's this wish for late romance - friendship switch for Xan. Indeed, Coran's romance is quite short, and who in their right mind would turn an extra romance off of their own accord? Since I will be updating Xan's friendship for BG:EE/correcting typos, I might as well add something for this. I can just imagine the conversation:

 

PC: ...So I want to be friends with you.

Xan: And you think it is not a doomed endeavor, do you?

PC: Well, why not? You do want to make love to me, right? And there's BG2, and I might change my mind, yet(uh-huh, don't count on it. Ooops, did I say this out loud?)

Xan: (sigh) CHARNAME, go away.

PC: Please? Pretty please, with a naked Bhaalspawn on top? By the way, speaking of naked: last night Coran finally brought me the moon from the sky, and we...

Xan: (groan) Corellon, why would you punish me so?

 

Lol, poor Xan. Although I fully realise that I only have myself to blame for the situation I found myself in, so I'm not sure you necessarily need to add dialogue for it. Toying with a person's heart should have consequences, and the way you wrote Xan, I don't get the impression that he'd be able to take that kind of late switch. That being said, the variable reset you suggested worked, and he's now chatty again. Thanks! I'll handle him with more care next time!