New NPC idea

[Garfield]

Okay, there are already a lot of NPCs on the market... But I hope this one may be a good idea.

 

Here is the dude:

 

 

Rakdar

Half-orc

Sorcerer

Neutral Evil

 

Strength:15

Dexterity 13

Constitution 16

Intelligence 12

Wisdom 15

Charisma 10

 

Staff *

Darts*

 

Rakdar is a follower of Talonna, belonging to a cult devoted to the godess. He uses poison, altough he is not able to brew them himself. The reasons of his coming to Amn are obscure and he obviously is not willing to reveal them....[no spoiler yet] (this is not is in game bio)

 

He will have banters with biowares NPC, even I haven't figured out how he will get along with some of them.

I am curently coding the banters with Jaheira, and if the PC tries to keept hem both in the party, one of them will pass away (guess who? )

 

 

I have no quest planned yet, but maybe if I can find a good ieda for one... As for special items, if I can find a BAM, he'll have protective earrings (against poison of course).

So, what do you think?

[Domi]

An evil half-orc NPC is definetly a good idea, though I think you will have to work really hard on his personality to make people trade Edwin for him

[Garfield]

Well, I agree that will be very difficult

 

For those who may wish a preview of his personnality, here is his Rakdar's joining dialogue:

 

-Rmmfl... D'y'a have a good reason for bothering me?

++ ~Rmmfl... Heu... Nope, bye...~

--So impolite... Drrft.

++ ~Heu...let say I have then. What are you doing here?~

--What do you think? I'm running errand! What else should I do in a market?.

++ ~D'y'a have some catnip perchance? ~

--Catnip? Is that some season for feline meat? Then I could advise you to use laurel.

 

This is only the beginning of the joining dialogue. I won't say too much, not to spoil the whole character, but I'll just had the first banter with Jaheira.

 

J: I'd rather be honest with you, orc. I have no trust for the followers of Talonna, neither for the goddess herself.

R:And? Why should I feel concerned? Let the sticky caterpillar crawl on the oak leaf, the sanke will soon eat her...

J: How dare you speak of Sylvanus this way?

R:Grfft, you insulted me and my faith, I insult you and yours.

J: You compare my God and your putrefying Goddess? You will pay for this, sooner or later!

R:Mrbl. Enough! Even the divine oak's leaves wither... Beware Jaheira...

J: Your threats do not scare me, orc. This stupid conversation won't go further!

R:Prrrl...

[Domi]

Well, he is certainly laid back. There are a bunch of grammar errors in the dialogues (sorry about being a pest), and I think you might want to work on a bit more subtle ways to show the relationships between your character and the NPCs

 

Here, for example,

 

Let the sticky caterpillar crawl on the oak leaf, the sanke will soon eat her...

J: How dare you speak of Sylvanus this way?

 

it was unclear to me that he spoke of Sylvanus, since Sylvanus I think is the oak, rather than a caterpillar. Snake for Talona though was nice, so maybe something like:

 

It's pleasent to sit under an oak tree, but did the shade make anyone safe from a snake in the tall grass?

[Garfield]

it was unclear to me that he spoke of Sylvanus, since Sylvanus I think is the oak, rather than a caterpillar. Snake for Talona though was nice, so maybe something like:

 

Well, I guess the rest of the dialogue is not clear, because the caterpillar was Jaheira, and the snake was rakdar himself.

But with your sentence, it works fine too (more than with mine actually)

 

And no problem if you want to correct the mistakes, it's minute-translation from French to English (plus my brother stole my dictionary...). I'm writing it in French, then I'll translate it into English, and I'll try to find a proof reader ^^

 

Thank you

[Andyr]

I think that portrait is already used for a joinable half-orc sorceror NPC in Neverwinter Nights, which may confuse some people if it's not meant to be the same guy.

 

If you're set on that portrait, you may want to try some simple edits such as colour changes or a left-right flip so the similarity is not so exact.

[Garfield]

What about that ?

 

[BigRob]

Good change. It's surprising how much just blurring that background flare alters the look (flipping and colour changes notwithstanding).

[Garfield]

It's not a blurring:I painted the old background white, and used white as transparence color, then stuck the guy on a new greenish background ^^

 

Glad you like it ^^

 

I keep on working on the orc

[Garfield]

I'm still working on this NPC, and I'm starting to have doubts...

 

Having him as a Talonna follower was good, but I thought an orcish god would be better, and I found about Yurtrus. But now I'm not sure about this particular aspect of the character: is a pious sorcerer alright or should I have him as a cleric, or multiclassed cleric ?

 

If you have any opinion on it, feel free to express it ^^

[Drew]

Sorceror is still fine, though I'd have him concentrate on Necromancy spells as a follower of Yurtrus.

[Garfield]

Ok, I kept him a sorcerer, with a focus on necromancy spells, and a few summoning spells like "summon spiders".

 

I have is whole joining dialogue, and his parting dialogue also. He already has a personal staff, which give him a +1 bonus to constitution, and which is enchanted with a non-detection spell.

 

I equipped him with the amulet of protection from poison, but I hesitate, has he follows Yurtrus, to give him a natural protection against poison. What do you think? Keep the amulet, or give him a natural bonus?

[BigRob]

Probably better to have it on an item. That way when a really good item of that type comes up, it forces you to make a choice. Or it takes that slot away if you don't want him to drop it.

[Garfield]

Yes, I wasn't sure that a natural resistance would make a balanced character...

 

I like the idea of choosing. I used it fot the custom weapon, either you keep it, or decide to change it, a little like Xan's moonblade in BG1 (I can't remember how many hours it took me to decide to drop it for a sling )

[Garfield]

Ok, here is the very very beginning of the developement. See the pictures of the "delivery". I know it's nothing really significant, but I couldn't resist

 

The joining dialogue (Rakdar can be found in Delosar's Inn in the Bridge district):

 

The record:

 

The inventory:

 

The first custom item:

 

Feel free to comment and correct possible mistakes