POLL: Canon BG2 Party (some SoA spoilers)

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Though this involves mostly SoA, I put it in the ToB forum because the reasoning involves knowledge of Sarevok and the plot of SoA.

Now, we know that the Canon BG1 party was:
PC
Imoen
Jaheira
Khalid (now dead)
Minsc
Dynaheir (now dead)

Of course you would continue with the three steadfast companions who survived, but who will take the spots of the two who died? And of course Jaheira and Minsc will be with you the whole way, but who gets Imoen's spot while she's gone?

Most players have noticed the eerie coincidence ( ) that Yoshimo shows up shortly before you lose Imoen, and then conveniently goes away just before you get her back. To me this absolutely screams: Yoshimo is Imoen's temporary replacement.

With two spots left, we are forced to look to the new (and a couple old) faces on the scene. Given the many NPC-specific quests and the depth written into each character, combined with the appearance of Sarevok right after you can't do those quests anymore, it seems as though the designers want you to rotate NPCs through a slot in SoA, after which the slot gets filled by Sarevok in ToB. This leaves only one last spot to fill in the party:

PC
Imoen/Yoshimo
Jaheira
Minsc
Rotation->Sarevok
???

So tell me, which of the 12 remaining NPCs gets that last (permanent) spot, and why?

Also, what class would your PC be in order to balance out the party?

EDIT: typo

[ September 03, 2005, 16:22: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 33 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Canon BG2 Party (some SoA spoilers) (33 votes.)

Last party member? (Choose 1)
* Aerie - 52% (17)
* Anomen - 9% (3)
* Cernd - 0% (0)
* Edwin - 3% (1)
* Haer'Dalis - 0% (0)
* Jan - 3% (1)
* Keldorn - 3% (1)
* Korgan - 3% (1)
* Mazzy - 3% (1)
* Nalia - 0% (0)
* Valygar - 0% (0)
* Viconia - 24% (8)

 

I'll say Viconia gets the spot. Not only is she the best romance, if you look at cut content, she had the most. To me, that smells like a greater focus. Also, you get to venture through the Underdark, Viccy's home, even seeing some of her family. Noone else gets that kind of focus. Plus, otherwise the party isn't that balanced, lacking as it does serious divine power. Of course, Anomen and Aerie both fill that slot, but I hate them.

As for PC class, with those arguments, I'd say some sort of arcane class, either Sorcerer or Mage. You've got plenty of melee between Minsc, Sarevok and Jaheira. You don't really need a whole thief, so Imoen does nicely. This also gives you two and a half divine casters, and two and a half arcanes.

 

I vote for Arie. With the loss of Dynaheir, Minsc misses a "witch". Arie fills that role perfectly.

Runner ups in my opinion are Viconia and Nalia or Mazzy. Depends on the class of the PC.

 

Anomen. My PC would be a magic user of some kind to balance out Imoen. I like having a cleric. I'm a cleric fan. Anomen has a decent enough quest and he can become an in-depth character if you keep him around long enough.

 

Edwin. He owes me just under a year's service, and he's not getting away this time! *g*

Plus there's fun for Jaheira and Minsc too, if Edwin comes along.

 

Wouldn't a 'canon' party be one that was entirely composed of clerics?

 

Like:

Anomen
Viconia
Jaheira
Aerie
Cernd
PC - R/C

And yes, I got pretty far with this motley group. It kinda got sucky since I couldn't use a lot of the slashy-slashy weapons.

 

Aerie, I'm afraid. First NPC you run into after making your escape from Irenicus (and like the other "canon" NPCs, available in Chapter 1), plus all the interactions with Minsc, plus, if playing the canon male Charname, the interactions with Jaheira and Haer'Dalis.

Also, with Aerie, Imoen, Jahiera, and Minsc, you end up with: 1.5 fighter, 1 mage, 1 cleric, and .5 thief: a pretty balanced foursome that can work with any choice. Most likely, from what I can tell, the most popular choice would be a fighter (followed by mage, F/M, and F/T).

 

I agree... Aerie fits right in.

Personally, I've always thought a Paladin fit very well in BGI, and if you only want a 5 man party, the canon party with Aerie and a Paladin is wonderful. Sarevok is just icing on the cake.

 

My vote is going to Aerie as well. Isn't it every man's dream to settle down and have a family?

Although a part of me is telling me to vote for VIccy, her romantic ending doesn't do her justice (IMO, she is better off in her 'non' romantic ending compared to Jaheira and Aerie).

 

Realistically, I can't see anyone other than Viconia or Aerie getting that spot. They fit into the party perfectly, both have extensive interactions (and conflicts) with the PC and other party members, and are the only ones who have nothing at all to lose by joining the PC. Viconia may be evil, but she rarely acts upon it.

Time for a coin flip... Viconia.

I see Jaheira as the "canon" romance - to me, that romance just makes the most sense. Since my canon PC is typically a human or half-elf, she's the love interest with the most in common with him, and her romance is (IMO) the best; the build-up, angst-ing and awkwardness of it is very well done.

Keldorn - I'm sorry, but I couldn't see him giving up his family so quickly. My canon PC is good; that character can't keep him from his wife and kids.

Edwin - it's him or Minsc; since my canon PC is good, it's Minsc.

Cernd/Haer'Dalis/Valygar - as fond as I am of Valygar, these guys really don't belong in a party of characters as well-developed as the others. A shame, in the last case.

Jan/Nalia/Mazzy/Anomen - again, while I can see them as strong temporary additions, they all have paths and responsibilities which I believe would lead away from following the PC. Especially Jan, as strange as that sounds.

Korgan - Um... no. All he cares about is blood, gold and booze, not questing, and certainly not with good characters.

EDIT: Interesting that, at this stage, all bar one of the votes have been for "romance NPCs".

 

And I wish I could change that. I voted for Jan based on this theory:

In the BG1 party thieving, druidic, and arcane skills are covered, but plain divine is not. Combined with the advantage of multi-classing, the fact that 20 years is perfect for a half-elf, and the need for a tough PC, it looks as though the Canon BG1 PC is a half-elf F/C.

Now you add that to what we have of the Canon BG2 party, and what are we missing? Only a couple of thieving skills. So who has continuing thieving skills (not to mention numerous banters): Jan.

However, I have just had an epiphany; it was supposed to be Haer'Dalis. Now before you hurt yourselves laughing, let me explain:

With thieving skills, Imoen takes care of Open Locks and Find/Remove Traps, while Minsc has the sneaky-slashy thing going. Detect Illusions: duh, it's a spell. Set Traps: not much good until HLAs anyway. This leaves Pick Pockets as the one missing skill. As a Bard, Haer'Dalis has this skill.

Now that's what even made me even consider him, but what really struck me was his missing romance! This guy was supposed to be the second male romance, but there wasn't time to create it. Think how much more content (and bird-talk) there would be had they been able to finish his character! He would likely have been one of the most developed characters in the game. Add to that the total kick-@$$ness of the Blade kit and you've got a winning combo. Too bad it never came to fruition.

You've made some good cases for Aerie and Viccy though, and as the game stands now I'd have to go for Aerie with an F/T PC. I'd say Aerie because IMO the placement, Minsc's "new witch" thing, and sheer volume of happenings in the ToB romance overpower Viconia's relatively wimpy conversion.

And anyone who says Viconia's romantic ending was crappy is full of sh*t. She's set up from the beginning (of BG1 even!) to be a tragic character, and she's only fulfilling her destiny. She's the typical misunderstood loner who is befriended by the main character. He shows her the error of her ways and she becomes (relatively) good, only to die in the end. She's meant to be mourned, and I say to anyone who wants to change her ending.

 

Felinoid,

I agree about HD - if the game had been written as intended, he'd be a very different, much more in-depth character, and certainly a strong contender. The all-round skills of the Blade kit positively reek of awesomeness. IIRC, there's a mod either completed or in development which adds a Haer'Dalis romance to the game and goes into a lot of HD's background, including his time in the Planes and why he became a Doomguard. I don't know the content, so won't claim to speak for the modmaker responsible. In vanilla BG2, though, he doesn't quite make the grade, IMO.

That said, there is a mod which changes Viconia's romance ending... you have to be really, really eeevil for it to happen, but both endings are perfectly appropriate. I think it's the Flirt Pack, but it may be (or require) Ascension.

 

looks like majority of the votes go to the "female romance NPC"s.

The Female Romance NPC's all have good points why they should be in the poll (except maybe Jaheira...coz well...she's already part of the BG1 canon party!).

@Felinoid:
I know she is a tragic character...but roleplay wise, after ALL the hardwork, she gets THAT as an ending? That got me real frustrated when I found out she died in the romantic ending of ToB. Now, her non romantic ending seems to kick more ass coz she eventually got the respect of the 'surface elves'...and I don't recall 'surface elves' being nice to most Drow, so for a Drow to earn the respect of their queen, she has to do something really significant, aside from being the Bhaalspawn's b****

 

I would have to say Aerie (obvious replacement for Dynaheir) if Viconia was part of the "Canon Party" she would have been in Irenicus Dungeon right from the start.

 

As Shaitan said, Aerie would fill the role after Dynaheir quite well. However I do not like Aerie very much, and don't know if I would say she fits very well in with rest of the group. I would only go for her if I desperately needed a mage (even though I find Jan to be a better one, she would fit better in because of she being the replacement as Minsc's new witch).

I voted Keldorn because I myself see the protagonist as a chaotic person being baalspawn and all (I never go for classes as Druid or Paladin with my PC), and Keldorn would fill in good as both a leader type and bringing some stability to the group (as a person). Even though Jaheira is a Druid, and should be in balance, I do not see her as being so, and find her rather unstable to tell the truth. same applies for both Immy and Minsc (of course ).

A third option could be Jan as his cheerful spirit fits in well with the rest of the party (until you bring along Saerevok anyways).

I don't know about viccy. Her romance is imo the best, but I think that you were "ment" to romance Jaheira.

 

Why not the classic hero, a Paladin?

 

@Klorox:
Um, half-elf!?!

 

@Felinoid: nothing SK can't fix, let's face it a Half Elf Pally would be nice for a change!

 

Maybe, but you still don't get the higher level cleric spells with a lowly pally. Besides, a demi-human F/C can become a demi-paladin if they've got the right stuff (Complete Paladin's Handbook, p.69).