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For what it might be worth: I did a BWP project install with 32.6 recently and at least did not see an outright error. I got warnings in the clerics component about the "Righteous Wrath of the Faithful" cleric spell (used iwdification) during install. Possibly some warning in the mage component, too, but I did not really investigate.

Cool ! Thank you and everyone involved !

Some more musings :-) Jarno Mikkola made an important point. Basically a NG Imoen should always kill an evil PC and an evil PC almost ever could kill Imoen (if she is taken along). How to handle that ? And why should the PC take Imoen along in the first place in BG2 ? Also, a good aligned PC (or NPC for the matter) might be tempted to become the God of Murder for a good and noble cause (i.e. "stupid good" instead of "stupid evil" play style), for example to prevent a greater evil. Based on the random thoughts above some additional remarks. Probably someone will have to correct wrong assumptions I make and my limited knowledge, though. 1. As far as I know (and I hope I got that right) original idea was to have Imoen killed by Irenicus in Spellhold. This is in some sense very smart. The PC could still learn that Imoen was a bhaalspawn but there would be never a situation which would force Imoen or the PC to act against each other. The PC would never have to look behind their back. All conflicts one could come up with are resolved (by a murder on top). First she is not there (abducted) and then she is dead. A good aligned PC would of course in any case try to rescue her, and maybe actually succeed with that based on whatever factors ? The writers did not explore this further. 2. Ascension actually gives Imoen bhaalspawn powers and one could consider it canonical. One could conclude from this that David Gaider was very aware of what situation the plot decision of Imoen surviving Spellhold created. But he chose a basically "good" solution to resolve it, no sinister conflict as one could have constructed the story of either the main game, ToB or the Ascension mod. 3. The Imoen Romance mod in its limited way gives also reasons why the PC should keep Imoen (alive). In some sense it is an alternative approach compared to Ascension to resolve conflict. However, as I wrote, it is limited to be foremost a "romance" mod centered on the PC and in some sense superficial in my opinion: It is not about the deeper question how the full recognition of Imoen as a bhaalspawn and candidate to become the new Goddess of Murder could logically influence and change the story, especially if Imoen is in the party the whole time. No romance option is compulsory for finding answers to the question: "would and/or could Imoen become the new Goddess of Murder and how does she relate to the PC on that level" which I find far more interesting. 4. There is a Imoen Friendship mod, but I never looked into it. I should. 5. No one wrote an elaborate additional NPC quest to further characterize and develop Imoen yet. With Imoen the PC and the main quest are the NPC specific quest. So what remains is a large pink plot hole in my opinion, compared to which the Soultaker SoD plot hole is tiny.

True. She could (should) just remain NG and then the PC is only in trouble if they make the "wrong" choice in the end, possibly based on a hidden variable which changes though al the game or the actual alignment of the PC. Perfectly possible. On the other hand it might be fair if the player had some feedback via a changig alignment of Imoen where the whole story was going. May be the PC should kill Imoen first before she kills the PC if that makes sense in the scope of the modification we are speculating about ? If it is written this way people might become a bit paranoid, at least if they already know the main story. And you are right, then PC alignment should probably also change in a sensible way during the story. I do not know about the "best" mechanics. This depends on the writing and the scope of the speculative modification and the technical possibilities of the engine, and I am no expert in any of these things.

OK, then maybe I will spin the idea a bit further The original BG1 NPCs basically did not have any personality apart from their introduction dialogue. The BG1NPC project is what gives them personality. But with the beginning of BG2 (ignoring SoD) there is a quite marked change of tone brought about by Imoens dialogue compared to BG1 (with or without the BG1NPC) which is canonical. Starting from that observation: There is no compelling reason to change anything in BG1/BG1NPC although one could change or add a bit of foreshadowing (perhaps Lord Foreshadow has an accident ? :-). Of ourse the original Imoen is NG, but a CG character could act quite unpredictable. The beginning of BG2 could then be coupled with a suitable alignment change on top of the canonical dual classing. And from the dialog it is quite clear that Imoen is very distressed, so that is believable. The original game then spirits her away to Spellhold, I read the original design was to have her killed there. So, for large parts of BG2 there is not anything about Imoen apart from the dream scenes. That is the premise where both the Imoen4ever and Imoen Romance start from. I do not know the intentions of Jastey with regards to what the Imoen4ever mod should become once it is finished. And it is not really important because this idle idea of mine is not about Jasteys mod. Same with Imoen Romance (I would like to stay away from any controversies and history regarding it, please). Both are just a demonstration pieces for me. In principle the Imoen4ever demonstrates that a writer has an immense empty canvas for Imoen in the first part of the story with only a relatively minor modification. I do not know if it would be technically possible, but one could have Imoens alignment and reactions change throughout the whole game (Planescape style) based on PC decisions and dialogue choices. The abduction/ Spellhold part ? It just fits in the way the writer wants, and it would be also possible to start with any alignment changes with Spellhold and thoughout the late game and ToB. These aligment changes could be open or hidden on the character sheet. And Imoen Romance demonstrates that there are two Bhaalspawn characters in the original design and that the interaction between them can be a different one than the original writers chose. So what interactions can you have ? Imoen Romance is one rather limited alternative exposition of that theme. But a good writer (which I am decidedly not) could do so much more I assume while staying in theme and character, depending on how sinister and murderous the writer likes the interaction. There could be open or hidden conflict between Imoen and the PC. Also Imoen specific new NPC quests similar to the Assassinations mod ? Or thieves guild connected ? In the final confrontation at the end of ToB Imoen could side with or against the PC. That idea is not new. But in principle you could have the complete standard ending without any modification, and then Imoen stabs the PC in the back to become the new Godess of Murder (or not, based on the complete BG2 and eventually even BG1 if played as BGT or EET). Just to show some obvious outcomes. I'll stop doing a psycological evaluation of the interactions of purely fictional characters now. But there is obviously so much untapped power EDIT: Looking at SoD Imoen does not have such a great time either. First she is nearly murdered and apparently the writers of SoD decided that she did not really like studying on top. Why ? Because the PC is her childhood friend ? Or is there a more sinister reason ... ? BTW, I really like the BG1NPC component regarding Tarneshs spellbook ! It is a very well written hint that there is more to her than BG1 makes the PC believe, and you could show some darker side in a similar way ?

Hello everyone ! I did not expect this idea to gather so much interest. If I had known I would have started a new thread, sorry about that. Certainly this idea has some character of a total conversion. One would also have to throw quite some well established canon and fan content overboard I think. And yes, the Imoen Romance mod was part of the origins of that stray idea, therefore I could not resist bringing it up. But it is and will remain just that, a stray idea. I am not sure even the original writers would have been able to do a plot twist like that convincingly. On the other hand Imoen as a late addition has so much wasted potential considering. Enough now

Yes, I know of course I meant new perspectives on the story of Imoen in general, and with this mod the story is changed in some sense. Of course there is no new content except for the necessary dialogue adjustements. Still, while playing through the chapters where Imoen would be not present with the original story it will be interesting to speculate about what could have been. "And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! " If you read the alternative story in the Unfinished Tales I again wonder what might have been.

Thank you, too bad. I was just asking because the (more or less obvious) answer was missing from the BGII compatibility section. Well, I will probably make a variant modded installation then. I really like the idea of this mod ! A loosely related remark: In my opinion it would have been an interesting turn if the original story in the end would have been about Imoen eventually becoming the God of Murder based on earlier player choices during the game. So, I am always interested in new perspectives.

Hello ! Someone has to ask it :-) Would this mod be technically or conceptually compatible with Imoen Romance ? Or could it be made compatible ? Thank you !