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I was doing this for a few NPC in my big mod, and I thought I might make it available as a general feature. This mod does three things. First, like a few others of mine have done as a matter of course, it replaces "static" avatars of standing peasants, children, beggars and so on with versions that can move. Those "statics" can be seen, for example, propping walls around Beregost in the unmodded game. While the player kills and murders around, all they can do is thrash like fish on a hook. They also cannot walk to the player or a point if given a special script or commanded from the outside - could not, until given normal legs. The other two changes are more noticeable. The commoners and nobles sitting on stools and chairs around the games will jump on their feet and switch to walking avatars in an emergency (folding their seats and taking them along), as will sleeping and snoring NPC on beds. They will then proceed to run about as directed by the rewrites of the SHOUT script, which all of the sleepers and most of the sitters have, along with a lot of other NPC. It concerns mostly the responses of "innocents" to aggression. If the innocents were attacked or took damage from the party (and did not die), or if their pockets could not be picked, they will redden and shout an alarm, then run for it at a goodly pace. If they simply saw a red-circled creature, e.g. another assaulted innocent nearby, they will also burn the carpet and keep away from the party, but without turning hostile or upsetting anyone else, and might eventually calm down. This goes for sitters and others who are awake, but sleepers are a bit of a special case. They are no longer technically asleep but feebleminded and will not react to anything unless attacked, stolen from, hurt or a red circle comes very near them. They only wake up to shouts from innocents in limited range and in direct line of sound, and then not always to the first one that rings out, so the player can risk dispatching another NPC quickly in a corner or behind a wall somewhere or just hope the first cry or two will be ignored. Awake NPC hear shouts across walls, but if they can be killed in a single strike, they will not get a chance to do any hollering. All innocents now have at least 5 hit points so that they do not always die from the first hit, though. So far the changes that were implemented through creature file effects. The rewrites to SHOUT were all done by careful patching in places and should be compatible with versions of shouting behavior from other mods, although some of the conditions go on top in precedence. The changes are: NPC will run out of the area to get away from the party, dash upstairs, downstairs, to the courtyard and everywhere; red-alerted NPC will continue to shout wherever they go, even off screen, alarming new crowds, but do so every two rounds (they are hostile, so the Silence spell is going to work on them); lawmen will react to shouts from innocents even after they have reddened, and also even off-screen; evil-aligned creatures with the SHOUT script will make a beeline for the innocents too after they make the first cry out of hostility - it is up to the player to imagine if that is to kill them, to aid them or to lure the party. Hostile innocents and triggered lawmen will remain that way, unless another mod mollifies them farther down in the script. For this reason this mod should be installed after others that cover NPC behavior. Red guards are a snag, obviously, but angry innocents can be chased to some other room or floor or away across the area, if they are keeping the party from resting. They should be dealt with somehow, anyway, before they scare away and alarm the whole vicinity that would listen. A mod that makes charming a more viable long-term solution, like my own "Charmed, I'm Sure," can also come in handy. Sitters and sleepers have received some middle-range random treasure to make them worth pickpocketing, horns will blare when NPC shout, the prone courtesans in the Undercellar have been given sexy moans to give out instead of tortured shrieks, and escaping NPC will cry to the world in diverse panicky voices. The patching of creatures with the sleeping animation covers all of them except the only four cases I know from the first BG where the character is either wounded or talking on his back: Winski Perorate and Voleta in the maze, Gantolandan in the burgled house, the sick Duke Eltan. There may be other exceptions, other creatures in mods that use those animations, but since there are no criteria to select them by, the player will have to add the exceptions by hand to the tp2, if the creatures are supposed to start conversations, respond or do something else beside playing Oblomov. They cannot commit to any of those careers while they are feebleminded. Illustration: a botched attempt to comb through the pockets of a patient in the Candlekeep infirmary gets everyone rushing for the door. If the red circle is allowed to escape there, he will find plenty of moderators to bawl to. Download

Crucial update - download again! This mod used to be called "Out of Commission." I made it five years ago. Now I'm adding a logical feature to it, which makes rest only a part of the concept. It is compatible with all of the games, Icewind Dale included, but only with Enhanced Editions. Description The Infinity Engine games approach rest with a severe ellipsis: the player clicks the "Rest" button, a movie plays, and the next moment 8 hours have rolled by, everyone has healed up and spells have been memorized. The game will even cast healing magic for you, all to shorten the downtime and get the characters on the road ASAP. If one rest session is not enough, you can just repeat it. While this approach has its merits, I suggest a different dynamic to make time matter and place adventures in time instead of redacting it. Separate Paths does nothing to the "Rest" button or inn rooms, which still work as before, but I suggest refraining from their use. Instead characters can rest with a special ability all party members get. They can rest severally - at different times and away from each other. When the special ability button is clicked, the character needing rest will leave the party, without superfluous dialogue, and lie down. There is no sleeping in the presence of enemies or on city streets, otherwise you can recline anywhere. In 8 hours the character will get up, refreshed, with magic at the ready and 1 hit point healed, and rejoin the party automatically. While he sleeps, the rest of the group is free to leave the area to explore, fight, trade or take on other members. They can stay away for any length of time - when they return to the area with the sleeper, he will step in. If the character is the only party member in the area, he will still sleep, but without leaving the party (that would make the area and himself inaccessible). Example: Dorn the half-orc has been hurt, and Branwen the cleric has run out of spells to heal him. Both settle down to rest, leaving just 4 characters in the party. These are relatively fresh and head out to explore the rest of the area, getting a better split of the experience for the greater risk. Had the player wanted to keep character progress equal, he could have hazarded Dorn and Branwen. When rest happens in real time, several things change: you only want to have rest those characters who require it and you are likely to be more frugal with spells, because depleted casters will need their full recuperation. A sleeping character can be roused - just move another party member immediately next to the sleeper for a few seconds. In a pinch you can hurt sleepers to wake them up quickly, and enemies wandering into the vicinity tend to get through after a while. A roused character will be groggy for a short time and must restart his 8 hours to get the benefits of resting, so camp in a quiet corner. Having laid down a few people, if there is no dungeon nearby or not enough manpower for it, you do not have to pace around the room the whole 8 hours. The special ability works differently for the main character: he will recline but stay in the party, the screen will fade out, the "Rest" movie will play, and time will advance by 8 hours. A technical note: resting with the special ability uses an effect, not the Rest() action, so the PartyRested() trigger will not check true. I am not aware of official scripts of BG:EE relying on that trigger anywhere but in one case where it seems to be for convenience, but mods might use it. In BG2:EE romances and dreams with Irenicus are tied to this trigger. Therefore, the old "Rest" button should still be clicked for special moments in storylines, such as the dream sequences that give you special abilities - after the death of Mulahey, after the Cloakwood mines etc. These moments are well-known to those who have played the games a lot, which at this point is almost everyone. You should also periodically click it in the second game if you want romances to advance. In the second Baldur's Gate the belt Imoen wears, the one that protects her from all disabling effects and death in Irenicus' dungeon, will also interfere with the Rest ability. She will not pass out as the others and therefore will rejoin the party right away. Use normal rest while she has the belt. Updated: separate adventuring When I first read the Dragonlance books by M. Weiss and T. Hickman, I was surprised that the original band of characters - Tanis the Half-Elf, Laurana, Flint, Raistlin and Caramon, Riverwind and Goldmoon and the others - split up after the first book. They mixed up with some others and a few went to Silvanesti, while the others sailed south to Icewall Glacier. Later a few characters infiltrated Sanction to find out the provenance of draconians just as the others defended Solamnia. Tanis and Raistlin dropped out and rejoined. This was novel to me at the time, and it brought home the point that heroes (and antiheroes, and villains) only cross paths for a time, travel alongside and then separate to follow their individual destinies again. With this update for the IE games parties can do the same and adventure in different parts of the world. There are no more requirements to do that thing before venturing forth. It is possible for two or three characters to travel to the Tombs Valley while the others follow Minsc to the Gnoll Fortress; and some one may even risk another place by himself. This makes the game play more like Jagged Alliance, with squads in different places, although the characters are still part of the same group and share experience, and there is still a maximum of 6 active personages. Scripts and conversations that used to check for the presence of someone in the party now also require that he be in the same area and ready to talk, and Dynaheir, for instance, will not think that Edwin is with the group if he is somewhere away. (Conflicts can be prevented this way.) Characters will no longer dial long-distance, but checks for romances between NPC and the main character will be made as before for technical reasons, so there may be surprising telepathic exchanges of love. It's not possible to foresee all eventualities in the games, and where, for example, the games used to teleport every party member to the same area, for instance, sailing to the Lycanthrope island, it will still do that, gathering them from around the world ("and there was much rejoicing"). This sort of event should be expected from time to time. The separate rest mechanism is still available, and characters who are out of the party completely, snoozing, don't consume experience. Of course, an active character must return to the area with the sleepers for them to step back into the ranks, and if the party is already full of others, the player will have to decide who to keep. Finally, the engine demands that the group be together for resting with the "Rest" button. Download

Free a powerful warlock from his imprisonment and venture with him on a quest to find the lost Nether Scrolls. Discover a new way of unleashing arcane energies with a brand new thief kit: The Warlock. Quickly travel vast distances across the Plane of Shadow if you dare to brave its desolate environs. Relax and store your equipment in a planar safe haven. Unlock new features and forge alliances in this astral stronghold. Brew potions and craft powerful artifacts to enhance your strength and devastate your enemies. Introduction: Ayden is a mysterious warlock that's been magically imprisoned on another plane for decades. You will originally encounter him in Ulcaster Ruins, struggling to find his way back to the prime material plane. Should you help him, he will become a loyal companion and friend to you and will open up a world of new opportunities. Over time, you will get to know many things about him, his past, and the place he comes from, which will affect your actions and perhaps even the way you perceive the world around you. Where will the road ultimately lead you as you approach godhood on your quest? Who will you put your trust in? What to expect: A new thief kit: The Warlock. It comes with its own set of custom abilities and an AI script for convenience. A fully-fleshed out companion NPC that uses the new kit and will interact with you and the world around him. The ability to quickly move to any major area through the Plane of Shadow. Your very own pocket plane that will serve as a stronghold and staging area for your adventures. Several brand new areas and quests (with more on the way). More than 30 new (or familiar) enemies and a handful of new allies. A simple crafting system that will allow you to more easily acquire the gear you need. A number of new items, some for crafting purposes, others for fun. A couple of additional convenience components to make thief classes more fun. Known Issues in v2.6.19: None