Excuse the following wall of text, but I’ve been thinking about what I like in a mod NPC for a while now. I’ve always found the idea of making one to be really interesting. I enjoyed some different mod NPCs to various extents, and have tried many for short durations. Usually they don't catch my attention enough to keep them with me for extended runs, but I enjoyed Kelsey and Angelo quite a bit and played with them for a long time in some runs. (also currently using Xan mod, which I kinda enjoy)
There are a couple criteria that I’d personally like to see mod NPCs meet. I’m interested to see what others think about what makes a mod NPC interesting and what sort of character they would be interested in adding to their party and Baldur’s Gate experience.
So please come share what you like (or dislike) in mod NPCs. What do you think would add quality? What detracts from the playability of certain mods? What would improve the game in terms of characters?
Just a note: I don’t mean to bash any existing NPC mods or diminish the work of modders. I appreciate anyone who shares things for my enjoyment, even if I don’t like their work. Examples of what “not to do” are welcome in this discussion, but I’d like to refrain from bashing other people’s creations entirely, since this is a very subjective topic.
I’ll start with a couple of my preferences (placed in spoiler tags for ease-of-use ;p)
[spoiler]
1. I think in terms of immersion it is very important for the character to be thematically consistent with existing Bioware NPCs. I mean this in terms of dialogue matching the original content, having the character not have interests or goals that seem out of place in Amn/Forgotten Realms and giving him goals that are realistic for a person in his position and an attitude and demeanor that is consistent with a medieval fantasy environment. I don’t really like the whole “my character is so super-special and unique and awesome” thing that usually happens with modd NPCs. Being unique is important to me, but there is a difference between standing out and having a huge neon sign saying “look at what the writer is trying to do/say! Isn’t it just awesome!”. I’m not saying it should be unambitious, just not too “try-hard” if you know what I mean.
For example (no disrespect to the creators of it) the Saerilith mod kind of took over my story when I installed it. I thought that the NPC stood out too much and that the author tried a bit too hard to make her seem “super-awesome-cool” at the expense of immersion.
2. Very important to me is that the character should have a good reason to travel with CHARNAME and his party. I think that it is often kind of weird how even original Bioware NPCs seem to have little reason to be willing to follow charname anywhere, and I mostly think this has to do with short friendship paths. This is one area in which I think the NPC sticking out a bit would be a good thing. Oftentimes the reasons why many NPCs are aligned with charname (not including the “canon” party or even all other characters, but a lot) have to do solely with alignment (ie Evil characters follow you because you are evil, Good because you are good. The Law-Chaos axis seems to be secondary). Nalia for example seems to have different goals that a Lawful Neutral priest of Helm would be expected to have, yet the game is limited in exhibiting this possible conflict of interests (not saying she should leave the party, but having some sort of dialogue about what a character wants out of adventuring with you is really nice). One way to do this would be an extensive friendship path that shows why the theoretical NPC would stick with your character on his journey to fight Irenicus or the Iron Throne or become a god, etc. I think BG1 actually did a better job with this than BG2, since Kivan, Xan, Branwen, etc were linked to the Iron Throne/Bandits/other bad guys and had reasons to ally with you.
So basically three reasons I can think of: The NPC hates Irenicus/the Iron Throne (or fights evil unconditionally), they want to benefit personally from the alliance (which would allow for some actual trade-off to be implemented ie share of the loot) or they form a bond with charname and his companions that is tighter than the dialogue from the vanilla game could show (friendship paths for the win!)
3. Friendship paths or mentor paths. Romance would be nice too, but not necessary. I always thought it was weird that in order to get a good insight into the NPCs you need to be bonking them. This is limiting for non-romanceable character. I mean in real life, I like many others have one love but many close friends. I think the in-game relationships should be similar. There are many things you would be comfortable sharing with or discussing with close friend (an traveling through dangerous locales fighting fierce monsters lends itself to forming deep bonds). I’d like to have a way for a mod NPC to exhibit this kind of camaraderie in ways that don’t make romantic relations necessary.
I also really like the idea of mentor paths. Your character is very young in this game and is given huge responsibilities. Older and more experienced NPCs should have some valuable advice for a newbie adventurer that would help keep them alive. One of my favorite inter-NPC interactions are between Keldorn and Minsc. Keldorn takes Minsc under his wing and kind of teaches him some things, guiding him in how to direct his anger in constructive ways. He has similar interactions with Aerie and especially Anomen. This is awesome. Keldorn and in some ways Jaheira have some similar convos with the Bhaalspawn, but more along these lines would be welcome. If the character were to be experienced I would like for them to teach CHARNAME a thing or two about how they see things or how they go about surviving while fighting scary monsters in remote areas. Or just about life in general.
4. I’d like the NPC to fit into existing quests/conflicts. Most of the Bioware NPCs are linked to some major quest in the game. Keldorn is with the Cult, Nalia and the Keep, Mazzy and Amaunator Temple, Cernd and Trademeet, Edwin and Mae’var, Haer’Dalis with Planar Prions and Valygar with the sphere. It would be cool for a mod NPC to fit in with an existing quest that maybe does not have anyone currently linked to it.
Two that come to mind off the top of my head are the slaver storyline in the Copper Coronet and the Windspear Hills. Hendak was kind of cool, and a character (maybe a barbarian or skald) that was a slave you freed would be a worthy addition to the party. Having been a slave opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. They already have a reason to be indebted to charname and would also follow him to oppose Irenicus who, like Lehtinan, has a history with holding people against their will. This satisfies my #2 desire perfectly. Also it allows for some areas (like the guarded compound in the Temple district) to have more significance. The guarded compound seems to be almost easter-eggish due to its significance not being easily apparent. Having an NPC that wants to destroy the slaver ring gives you more of a reason to be there. Also would add some flavor to the random ecounters with slavers while traveling in-between areas.
Windspear Hills seems like a perfect opportunity to add either a druid (dryad community nearby) or a Paladin (Garren Windspear’s daughter/son perhaps?)
5. I’d like the NPC to have a class or race that adds something new to the game. This is not the most important for me but I like to have a character that fills a role that no current NPC does. For example, there is no barbarian in either game. BG2 lacks a traditional bard and a sorcerer. Only one of each shorty in the second game, and only two of each in the first. Only one half-orc and he is evil as hell. The elves in BG2 are all kind of exotic (Avariel and Drow). I’d like to see a good/neutral dwarf or half-orc or even an evil Ranger (don’t care if it is illegal)
6. Speaking of illegal things, I don’t mind illegal race and class combos… in fact I think they are cool (Mazzy the pseudo-paladin for example). I’d like to see a dwarven skald, an elven druid or a gnome sorcerer if they are done well and have good explanations. We already have a half-orc blackguard and an elven cleric/mage.
7. Unique NPC items or abilities add a lot of flavor to the game. Whether it is Keldorn’s family weapons or Tiax’s summon shadows ability, these things all make the characters more interesting. In BG2 everyone but Korgan and Imoen (off the top of my head) have an item, spell or ability that is unique to them and has to do with their background. I’d like to see a bard with their own cool instrument or a barbarian with his/her clan’s totem. These things can make for interesting dialogue or even questlines.
8. I actually like the idea of inter-NPC romances better than additional options for CHARNAME. I think it is odd how only the Bhaalspawn seems to get any romantic interest (Jaheira and Khalid kinda in the first game and some kinda/sorta/not really flirting between Haer’Dalis and Aerie the only exceptions). One thing I really liked about the Kelsey mod is that he could romance Imoen in ToB. This adds a lot of flavor and believability to the world that I think would benefit the game immensely. I wouldn’t want this to be the center of attention or distract from CHARNAME/the main story too much, but some dialogue along these lines would be kinda cool for me.
[/spoiler]
I’d like to see what others think. I’d also like to humbly invite some friends here who have expressed similar interests, notably @Quartz and @KidCarnival
There are a couple criteria that I’d personally like to see mod NPCs meet. I’m interested to see what others think about what makes a mod NPC interesting and what sort of character they would be interested in adding to their party and Baldur’s Gate experience.
So please come share what you like (or dislike) in mod NPCs. What do you think would add quality? What detracts from the playability of certain mods? What would improve the game in terms of characters?
Just a note: I don’t mean to bash any existing NPC mods or diminish the work of modders. I appreciate anyone who shares things for my enjoyment, even if I don’t like their work. Examples of what “not to do” are welcome in this discussion, but I’d like to refrain from bashing other people’s creations entirely, since this is a very subjective topic.
I’ll start with a couple of my preferences (placed in spoiler tags for ease-of-use ;p)
[spoiler]
1. I think in terms of immersion it is very important for the character to be thematically consistent with existing Bioware NPCs. I mean this in terms of dialogue matching the original content, having the character not have interests or goals that seem out of place in Amn/Forgotten Realms and giving him goals that are realistic for a person in his position and an attitude and demeanor that is consistent with a medieval fantasy environment. I don’t really like the whole “my character is so super-special and unique and awesome” thing that usually happens with modd NPCs. Being unique is important to me, but there is a difference between standing out and having a huge neon sign saying “look at what the writer is trying to do/say! Isn’t it just awesome!”. I’m not saying it should be unambitious, just not too “try-hard” if you know what I mean.
For example (no disrespect to the creators of it) the Saerilith mod kind of took over my story when I installed it. I thought that the NPC stood out too much and that the author tried a bit too hard to make her seem “super-awesome-cool” at the expense of immersion.
2. Very important to me is that the character should have a good reason to travel with CHARNAME and his party. I think that it is often kind of weird how even original Bioware NPCs seem to have little reason to be willing to follow charname anywhere, and I mostly think this has to do with short friendship paths. This is one area in which I think the NPC sticking out a bit would be a good thing. Oftentimes the reasons why many NPCs are aligned with charname (not including the “canon” party or even all other characters, but a lot) have to do solely with alignment (ie Evil characters follow you because you are evil, Good because you are good. The Law-Chaos axis seems to be secondary). Nalia for example seems to have different goals that a Lawful Neutral priest of Helm would be expected to have, yet the game is limited in exhibiting this possible conflict of interests (not saying she should leave the party, but having some sort of dialogue about what a character wants out of adventuring with you is really nice). One way to do this would be an extensive friendship path that shows why the theoretical NPC would stick with your character on his journey to fight Irenicus or the Iron Throne or become a god, etc. I think BG1 actually did a better job with this than BG2, since Kivan, Xan, Branwen, etc were linked to the Iron Throne/Bandits/other bad guys and had reasons to ally with you.
So basically three reasons I can think of: The NPC hates Irenicus/the Iron Throne (or fights evil unconditionally), they want to benefit personally from the alliance (which would allow for some actual trade-off to be implemented ie share of the loot) or they form a bond with charname and his companions that is tighter than the dialogue from the vanilla game could show (friendship paths for the win!)
3. Friendship paths or mentor paths. Romance would be nice too, but not necessary. I always thought it was weird that in order to get a good insight into the NPCs you need to be bonking them. This is limiting for non-romanceable character. I mean in real life, I like many others have one love but many close friends. I think the in-game relationships should be similar. There are many things you would be comfortable sharing with or discussing with close friend (an traveling through dangerous locales fighting fierce monsters lends itself to forming deep bonds). I’d like to have a way for a mod NPC to exhibit this kind of camaraderie in ways that don’t make romantic relations necessary.
I also really like the idea of mentor paths. Your character is very young in this game and is given huge responsibilities. Older and more experienced NPCs should have some valuable advice for a newbie adventurer that would help keep them alive. One of my favorite inter-NPC interactions are between Keldorn and Minsc. Keldorn takes Minsc under his wing and kind of teaches him some things, guiding him in how to direct his anger in constructive ways. He has similar interactions with Aerie and especially Anomen. This is awesome. Keldorn and in some ways Jaheira have some similar convos with the Bhaalspawn, but more along these lines would be welcome. If the character were to be experienced I would like for them to teach CHARNAME a thing or two about how they see things or how they go about surviving while fighting scary monsters in remote areas. Or just about life in general.
4. I’d like the NPC to fit into existing quests/conflicts. Most of the Bioware NPCs are linked to some major quest in the game. Keldorn is with the Cult, Nalia and the Keep, Mazzy and Amaunator Temple, Cernd and Trademeet, Edwin and Mae’var, Haer’Dalis with Planar Prions and Valygar with the sphere. It would be cool for a mod NPC to fit in with an existing quest that maybe does not have anyone currently linked to it.
Two that come to mind off the top of my head are the slaver storyline in the Copper Coronet and the Windspear Hills. Hendak was kind of cool, and a character (maybe a barbarian or skald) that was a slave you freed would be a worthy addition to the party. Having been a slave opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. They already have a reason to be indebted to charname and would also follow him to oppose Irenicus who, like Lehtinan, has a history with holding people against their will. This satisfies my #2 desire perfectly. Also it allows for some areas (like the guarded compound in the Temple district) to have more significance. The guarded compound seems to be almost easter-eggish due to its significance not being easily apparent. Having an NPC that wants to destroy the slaver ring gives you more of a reason to be there. Also would add some flavor to the random ecounters with slavers while traveling in-between areas.
Windspear Hills seems like a perfect opportunity to add either a druid (dryad community nearby) or a Paladin (Garren Windspear’s daughter/son perhaps?)
5. I’d like the NPC to have a class or race that adds something new to the game. This is not the most important for me but I like to have a character that fills a role that no current NPC does. For example, there is no barbarian in either game. BG2 lacks a traditional bard and a sorcerer. Only one of each shorty in the second game, and only two of each in the first. Only one half-orc and he is evil as hell. The elves in BG2 are all kind of exotic (Avariel and Drow). I’d like to see a good/neutral dwarf or half-orc or even an evil Ranger (don’t care if it is illegal)
6. Speaking of illegal things, I don’t mind illegal race and class combos… in fact I think they are cool (Mazzy the pseudo-paladin for example). I’d like to see a dwarven skald, an elven druid or a gnome sorcerer if they are done well and have good explanations. We already have a half-orc blackguard and an elven cleric/mage.
7. Unique NPC items or abilities add a lot of flavor to the game. Whether it is Keldorn’s family weapons or Tiax’s summon shadows ability, these things all make the characters more interesting. In BG2 everyone but Korgan and Imoen (off the top of my head) have an item, spell or ability that is unique to them and has to do with their background. I’d like to see a bard with their own cool instrument or a barbarian with his/her clan’s totem. These things can make for interesting dialogue or even questlines.
8. I actually like the idea of inter-NPC romances better than additional options for CHARNAME. I think it is odd how only the Bhaalspawn seems to get any romantic interest (Jaheira and Khalid kinda in the first game and some kinda/sorta/not really flirting between Haer’Dalis and Aerie the only exceptions). One thing I really liked about the Kelsey mod is that he could romance Imoen in ToB. This adds a lot of flavor and believability to the world that I think would benefit the game immensely. I wouldn’t want this to be the center of attention or distract from CHARNAME/the main story too much, but some dialogue along these lines would be kinda cool for me.
[/spoiler]
I’d like to see what others think. I’d also like to humbly invite some friends here who have expressed similar interests, notably @Quartz and @KidCarnival