Isewein

Since you're not on the Beamdog Forum anymore and your Regulars kit collection hasn't been released, I just wanted to chime in here and tell you how much I appreciate your approach to small, flavourful kit mods specifically geared towards NPCs (Militia Captain, Mercenary, Charlatan). So many class or kit mods seem to try and reinvent the wheel, and while I have nothing but respect for that, it goes rather over my head. These however simply add a touch of roleplay to the mechanics - what more could you ask for?

PS: While I'm here though - albeit I despise myself for continuing to mix praise with requests, would it be possible to make the kit components of DoF standalone (and thus compatible with Spell Revisions and SCS)? I've grown so used to SR over the years that I can hardly imagine having to relearn the vanilla spells anew, let alone enjoy the encounters without SCS realistic AI...

Interesting. So NPCs won't be deleveled down to 1 and there shouldn't be any incompatibility issues whatsoever as long as the tome in question isn't used? Nice concept, if somewhat gamey. I'd still prefer if it was possible to handle everything in the WeiDU console rather than in-game, but I can see how it's much less of a pain to code that way. Thanks for letting me know!

Would you consider making it possible to only select this for certain NPCs during installation, just as was possible with Level 1 NPCs? There are one or two I'd like to change, but I am somewhat wary to install such a comprehensive mod which could potentially conflict with so many mod NPCs .

Does she need to be present throughout the game for her talks and story to unfold or is it possible to only recruit her before / after Spellhold? (I usually play with rotating NPCs.)

For the hidden NPC to be able to join, does Charname specifically have to be good-aligned or can neutral suffice (or does it depend on reputation)?

Oh, so splitting up RR is no longer necessary? Good to know.

In the BGT days, at least, you had to install S&S before RR for full compatibility, while Refinements was supposed to come after most of RR save for the latter's HLA components, which were to be installed last. Has that changed? Have you run into any issues with your install?

Thanks for the explanation! I wasn't aware of the differences in character interpretation, but that makes a lot of sense. Although I find Jastey's Ajantis to be quite "soft" already myself.

With all these new banters, maybe you should consider making them a separate install component a la IEP so that they could still be used even if Ajantis (or Quayle, or Skie, etc.) is brought into the game by a different mod. I really like what I have seen of your Water Gardens quest additions and would enjoy the expaned dialogues too, but wouldn't want to forego the dedicated NPC mods for those characters I've already grown used to and fond of.

I didn't mean to imply that it should be, just raise its visibility for other people like me who might come across this thread not knowing about the newer version (which after all needs more playtesters in order to become stable). I don't think it's fair to equate Cirosan's work with Roxanne's - he recived explicit permission from Kish to continue working on the mod and also documented his changes thoroughly. I wish the community could finally start moving past this entire nasty Roxanne business instead of bringing it up again and again...

I couldn't agree more with the sentiment. And just to make sure nobody else misses this as well: There now is a version 8.1 with bugfixes by @Cirosan which hasn't been linked on the main mod page yet.

Ah, just saw this now - have you tried your converted version on EET, @Rhastor? It would be great if you could let us know whether it worked.

Since the patch still hasn't resurfaced, am I right to assume that all @K4thos did was run the EET_modConverter tool included in EET on NPC Strongholds before installation to adjust the chapter variables? I really can't imagine playing without the wonderful NPC Strongholds, but then so many other mods are EET exclusive these days...

If I understand correctly, installing them alone shouldn't break compatibility with these other mods. Simply don't actually choose them as rewards (the house in BG City should be fine; I can't recall any mod affecting that).

The beauty - and danger - of the idea of original sin is that it in some sense divests us of responsibility for our misdeeds and misfortunes. Just as the narrative of inevitable cyclical civilisational decline does, which in a sense is just as teleological as that of progress it decries. To me it is a sobering reminder of the errors of defeatism to see the brave people of Ukraine willing to put their lives on the line for what in a very real sense is Western civilisation.

There's a small glitch in talks.d line 2567 - the romance variable should likely be set to 3, not 1, there.

I also found a typo in talks.tra @977: "just desserts" should be "just deserts".

Not quite an alternate portrait, but this mod has inspired some lovely fanart:

https://www.deviantart.com/linakarlino/art/Icewind-Dale-2-NPC-Project-475320713

I just discovered there's an entire, completed podcast series a group called Sweden Rolls recorded of their P&P campaign version of Baldur's Gate. The things people did over lockdown! Has anyone here given it a listen? Is it worth the time investment?

I just learned that David Warner has passed away. He really turned a regular power-lusting mage into a memorable, Shakespearean villain by way of his voice alone. May we cling to the memory of his memory for many a year to come.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2022/jul/25/david-warner-a-life-in-pictures

It's a real shame - I do think this was one of the most ambitious story mods for Baldur's Gate City. But I've tried to look into the code myself and it truly is a singularly arcane maze. It's good to hear Jarl resurfaced though, after all - if you are in contact with him, Jastey, maybe you could ask him whether he is still planning on updating this mod at some point in the future?

I suppose in the meantime all we can do is...

A lot of these older materials used to be downloadable for free on the WotC web page, so I highly doubt anyone would mind the use of the illustrations - the FR Wiki uses many in their articles, for instance. You could always downscale them to make sure it falls under fair use? Great idea for a mod, by the way! I always liked that feature of the journal in Ps:T.

So this XP boost applies only to Imoen or to other continous NPCs as well?

SCS has been featuring an increased Spellhold price component for a long while.

What I do to address this problem in a roleplaying-friendly way is to rotate NPC companions and treat them in a realistic manner - i.e., let them keep the stuff they acquire during their time in the party even if I have little intention of ever picking them up again. This way, XP progression is somewhat slowed down as well, since it is spread out among more NPCs. Although Charname can end up somewhat overpowered in relation to the others, they are the child of a god after all, so go figure...

2 hours ago, jastey said:

If that means "why is this EET exclusive" the answer is: the EET version si also for BGT, and there is another DSotSC by Red Carnelian for BG:EE.

I'd also throw in that due o the 2.6 update, it's well likely that some so far very stable mods cause problems in 2.6 noone expected (not even the mod author because of lacking changelog info). I think I'd rather go for a non-EET playthrough if I'd want to make sure I'll actually reach ToB currently. It's a thought at least. On the other hand, if noone plays them we won't learn about potential incompatibilities.

It just surprised me because usually incompatibility goes the other way - and I'm aware there is another DSotSC version, but I think that one is without your balance improvements, which are pretty much what made NTotSC enjoyable for me in the first place, so I'd assume it's rather similar with DSotSC.

As for the update, thanks for the warning. Do you think this would apply similarly to using a heavily modded EE install or to EET specifically? As always, major respect to you guys for working through the issues without even the benefit of a changelog.

Greenhorn raises a good point I hadn't thought of - separate game installs are by nature more flexible and therefore likely more robust. I'll include that in the list. Although I do somehow miss those endless nights spent watching a BWP WeiDU console with apprehension, waiting with clenched teeth for the inevitable error message..  

Dear all,

'Tis the season and I have failed my Will Save miserably, so I am now in the process of setting up another hibernal Baldur's Gate playthrough. Once more this brings up the question of whether the advantages of EET outweigh the negatives. In the old days of BGT, the decision was basically a no-brainer, but with the EEs the most obvious benefits of using a Trilogy mod have been made redundant. Since I am terrible at making decisions without overly lengthy deliberation, I figured I might as well share my thought process for the benefit of others sitting on the fence. Please feel free to amend your own thoughts to this list, it might become a nice community resource to have after all.

Pros

-Continuous Journal

-NPC continuity: stat boni on NPCs carry over, as do learned spells

-ToB Fate Spirit summons continous NPCs

-spell mods carry over; there might be problems when transitioning from SoD to BG2 using modded spells otherwise?

-EET-exclusive mods: The Cowled Menace, DSotSC v4 (why?), LCA Corwin, EET Tweaks

Cons

-most of the promise of a continuous world remains theoretical in nature, there is basically no reason to revisit any BG1 areas in the later portion of the game (yet)

-separate game installs offer more flexibility in addressing bugs and including newly released content

-NPC continuity: this could be seen as a negative too, as characters fall far behind in levels between games if you do not include them in the party at all times, or indeed won't appear at all (e.g. Minsc in SoD if Dynaheir was killed)

-EET-incompatible mods: NPC Strongholds (most essential; patch by Cirosan with dubious compatibility?), Oversight, Ayden Project (?), Level One NPCs (can be replicated with NPC_EE), Eve of War (unfinished anyway), Black Hearts (somewhat, works with issues), Jan's Extended Quest, Homeward Bound (these two might be natively compatible after all as per @Gwendolyne, tbc), Aurora's Shoes (patch courtesy of Austin), SoD Dialogue Banters, Infinity Sounds, Classic UI Mods (?)

*updated March 24