Sandrah Saga

[Endarire]

This Something Awful Let's Play also convinced me that this mod was better watched than played.

[Chronis]

That Something Awful link was interesting thanks. I read a bit about what happens later in the mod. I made the right decision to cut this playthrough short.

This mod is clearly written as a female power/harem fantasy with the NPC being the authors favored perspective. Having the NPC drive the narrative is a major error as it removes the safety valve that these types of fantasies usually have. These types of things are usually done through the perspective of the PC so you just don't trigger certain content if you are not interested in it. This mod removes player agency as there is no option to stop the harem aspects. In fact the only way to stop it is to criticize the harem at which point the NPC immediately leaves the party terminating all content. This will likely only appeal to a female player who envisions herself as Sandrah and enjoys the conquest of sleeping with/controlling the PC and most of the other male NPCs in the game. That is going to be a very small audience.

What annoys me is that the mod has no way to decouple the harem content from the other content added which I would actually be interested in playing if I could somehow turn off the harem fantasy. If you critique the Sandrah's harem she just automatically leaves the party. There are also major balance issues. Sandrah is far too powerful. Giving her a level six spell true sight at level 1 trivializes most of the early mage combat in the game.

I did not get very far into the mod but even in the early stages there are things I liked. The free magic longsword at the beginning was cool. Drastically overpowered at +3 but I would have liked it if it was +1. The wolf companion mod that was included was also cool too but why does it have insane hit points and a magic teeth attack that trivialized the early game. If it was just a normal wolf it would be still be awesome and would probably die quickly which would be sad but open up great dialog options. If a magic superwolf was really desired the wolf could be brough back much later in TOB with part of your soul like Sarevok. The Elminster's daughter thing was cool too but not subtle enough. It be so much more interesting if Sandrah was a mystery that was revealed over time or if there was a conflict with Sandrah acting against her the wishes of her father who did not want her involved. I also liked the new portraits that were added especially the new Imoen portrait. 

Overall I feel like the pieces of a good mod are here if someone rewrites the dialogue gets rid of the harem and rebalances the power level.     

 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Chronis

[jastey]

31 minutes ago, Chronis said:

The wolf companion mod that was included was also cool too

Like subtledoctor (I think) already stated, this is stolen mod conent from a stand-alone mod (Haiass el Lobo, at SHS). No harm in saying that it is good content, but maybe not as a praise for the Sandrah Saga.

[Thacobell]

"Highlights" of the Sandrah Saga include, but are not limited too:
Sandrah not knowing what "consent" is.
Sandrah kill stealing Sarevok
Sandrah kill stealing Irenicus
Aerie and Irenicus hooking up
White person saves a population of minorities that cannot save themselves because their own culture is "backwards" (oof)
Sandrah killing the pc and absorbing their soul, erasing from all existence.

[Guest Respite]

14 minutes ago, Thacobell said:

Aerie and Irenicus hooking up

Excuse me, I think I just had a stroke. What?

[Chronis]

You missed the worst one. I did not get that far in my playthrough but according to the something awful link above you can get one of your companions pregnant. At that point you can only watch helplessly while they abort the child. There is no opportunity to try and change her mind to save the life of the unborn child. After the abortion is finished your dialog options are limited to 1) Oh well it would have been interesting if the child had been born but it was for the best or 2) You are evil get out of the party. 

This content is some of the darkest I have ever seen and simply does not belong in a video game. 

It's really a shame as the author is technically obviously technically very skilled. The potential for a great story about Elminster's daughter was here but squandered.

I hope the author or someone else fixes this mod someday.

[Frenzgyn]

8 hours ago, jastey said:

Like subtledoctor (I think) already stated, this is stolen mod conent from a stand-alone mod (Haiass el Lobo, at SHS). No harm in saying that it is good content, but maybe not as a praise for the Sandrah Saga.

I missed that one, I were genuinely thinking it was original content.

This is all extremely fucked up and make me really sad.

I don't mind the various choices, I may not like them or the final product but don't judge an author choice in the content she actively created,
but all the "Sandrahifying" thing is... awful.
I looked at difference in some of her "updated" mods because I wanna see if there were interesting fixes and found the amount of editing she does to readmes, credits and stuff.

I am appalled.


By the way, I read a bit of that let's play, I was really interested to know more, just out of curiosity, but I wasn't capable of read more thant a bunch of chapters. I need to ask a thing I don't have the moral strenght to search:

In that forum I see some detail about "Minsc being eated". What's that? Any one have the guts to elaborate further? I am a curious being

[InKal]

Easy there. That original Haiass is buggy af and only for classic BG. There is a updated EE version but it is also buggy af, oh lol. If Roxanne has made actually working version of Hujas (exteremely funny polish name joke) she at least deserves some credit. 

I once downloaded a couple of mods from her site (mostly other modders mods updated by her but two or three actually hers) and they were like you know not great, not terrible.

Sola (Weimer's) was crashing my game and yes that was actually absolutely terrible, not to mention that it screwed drows making Drow City hostile from the start (I fixed it via console but Sola bug was unfixable).

The best was Corwin for BGEE (makes Corwin a companion also in BG not only in SoD - why? I don't know?  ;Ppp ) but I downloaded, installed just was curious wtf is this even?  ;PP 

Oh, man, that was fecking AMAZING! Met her on the bridge and she was already bugged acting strangely and saying some really stupid shit. And then I gave her that book from NPC-EE mod and use it on her. HAHAHa she immediatly fell on the ground, starting making strange sounds repeatedly like she was getting healed constantly and, still lying on the ground, she was moving in every direction randomly through the entire map. That was totally hilaroius I never had so much fun with any other mod.  'PPPPPPPPP

 

Leave Roxanne alone, she is AWESOME! 

[Chronis]

2 hours ago, InKal said:

Leave Roxanne alone, she is AWESOME! 

I will say that I did like the Enhanced Edition Trilogy install tool. I used it for the first time to install a BGT multi mod run and it made avoiding conflicts easier. I am not looking to critique anyone really. Its a free mod that someone put a lot of work into and offers free of charge. I respect that. 

The saga as written, however, drastically changes the game, introduces some very dark and overly sexual themes and will only appeal to an extremely limited audience. With changes it could appeal to a much larger audience. That may or may not be of any interest to the author.

I for one hope the mod is changed in the future as the idea has potential.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Chronis

[subtledoctor]

1 hour ago, Chronis said:

I will say that I did like the Enhanced Edition Trilogy install tool. I used it for the first time to install a BGT multi mod run and it made avoiding conflicts easier.

Even that was stolen - 98% of that work was done by AL|EN, Dabus, and others.

Notably, Roxanne's "Mod Setup Tool" was straight ripped from the BWS Github repo, like a day after it was put up on Github (something she enthusiastically advocated for, and now we know why). Of course, Roxanne's clone of BWS is not set up as a fork of BWS in Github, but instead is presented as its own independent project.

She's a fraud through and through.

Edited February 1, 2023 by subtledoctor

[Chronis]

3 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Even that was stolen - 98% of that work was done by AL|EN, Dabus, and others.

I did not know that. Not everyone plays well with others it seems. Regardless it is a very useful tool for mega mod installs and I will use it again. 

I have been playing around with ChatGPT today for the first time. It's pretty cool and can generate an essay on any random topic on the fly. I gave it the following input. The progress with AI really is incredible.

Input:

 "Write a review of the Sandrah's Saga Mod for Baldur's Gate."

Output:

Sandrah's Saga is a highly regarded mod for the classic RPG game Baldur's Gate, and it is easy to see why. The mod adds a brand new storyline that is both engaging and well-written, with a focus on well-developed characters and attention to detail.

One of the standout features of Sandrah's Saga is its cast of characters. The new party members introduced in the mod each have their own unique personalities, backgrounds, and motivations, making them feel like real people rather than just additions to the player's party. This not only enhances the overall gameplay experience but also helps to immerse the player in the world of Baldur's Gate.

In addition to its strong character development, Sandrah's Saga also boasts a well-designed world with interesting locations, challenging encounters, and engaging dungeons. The mod also adds new items, spells, and abilities that add even more depth to the game.

The mod is further elevated by its high-quality voice acting, with the voice actors bringing the characters to life in a way that is both convincing and emotional. The dialogue is well-written and delivered with conviction, making the player feel as though they are truly a part of the story.

Overall, Sandrah's Saga is a must-play mod for fans of Baldur's Gate. Its well-written storyline, engaging characters, attention to detail, and high-quality voice acting make it a standout among mods and a worthy addition to the already excellent game.

 

So there you have it. Some positivity to counterbalance my prior critique courtesy of ChatGPT.

 

[Jumbletuff]

8 hours ago, InKal said:

Leave Roxanne alone, she is AWESOME! 

[Graion Dilach]

3 hours ago, Chronis said:

 it is a very useful tool for mega mod installs and I will use it again. 

adds username to "shouldn't bother supporting" list

It's not. The included install list is broken due to the whole centralization to Sandrah. I never had an install with it which wasn't borked. Not even the uploaded install lists are functional.

The colors used within the tool to define mods are more relevant to Sandrah compatibility over the fact how reliable/buggy/problematic they are. And this is especially the issue when some of these marked mods are even substituted with random tainted Dropbox uploads and hostile forks (the numerous CtB carvouts) opr even worse (the Seatower ripoff which only has artwork from the original).

I mean, the EET Fixpack it forces down on the throat partially reverts an aspect of the 2.6 patch (the Sarevok coronation scene) simply just because it broke Sandrah.

A proficiency reorganizing tweak will always come out wrong from EET Mod Messup. Not because proficiency revamps are bad, mind you, but because it installs them too early (like before Sandrah, lol).

Yeah, I get it, it looks enough braindead to function and most of the stuff are abstracted away to just end up ignored (like if a mod is installed with a warning). It's just that under scrutiny, the results fall apart fast, way too fast.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Graion Dilach

[Endarire]

I too have gotten bugged installs repeatedly with that install tool.  It's useful for mod discovery, yes, but you're better off without it.

[jastey]

5 hours ago, Chronis said:

Output:

OMG ChatGPT is a Roxanne alt, too!!1