How much do you change the NPCs?

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This is just something I've been thinking about, because of the ease of using shadow keeper. I've read comments about making Viconia a sorcerer and Minsc a berzerker, but how much would you think is okay to change?

I'm just thinking about it because I love the way the NPCs interact and their side quests, but it can be annoying to get the ones you want into a party, because you may need them to be another class. I know that it's better to to accept their flaws and all, but when I've played with many different party combinations, and I now really would like to have certain characters in my party, I'm finding that I can't really get the combinations I want, because I need a good mix of classes.

So how much have you changed the NPCs, and how much would you be willing to change them?

 

Change all you want, it's still for the fun of it I guess. I allways change Minsc to a Berserker and Nalia to Swas B. Besides that I alters some of the proficiencies, ie allways making Jaheira dualwield club and scimitars.

 

For my money, I say it's okay to change things only so far as you don't break the character of the NPC. Jaheira, for example, I think would make a much better Neutral Good Ranger/Cleric than the True Neutral Fighter/Druid that Bioware pegged her as.

As for Minsc being a berserker...well, some people see him that way, but I'd say he's a Barbarian. To me, that fits him a lot better. Viconia being a sorcerer? Well, aside from my general dislike of the sorcerer class being in the game at all, Viccy's faith in Shar comes up a lot in her attack quotes. Perhaps a Cleric/Mage if you do wish her to have arcane, but really, how many clerics are in the game? Anomen's a prick and Viccy's evil, so I'm glad to have an NPC cleric when I can get it.

Of course, that's just me. If it makes your game more fun to play around with that so you can have the personality mix you want without screwing up the class balance, more power to you. A game, at it's heart, is meant to be fun.

 

I've changed all sorts of stuff in the past. Sometimes an NPC's preset proficiencies are wastefully spread, or in weapon types I'm sick of using, so I change them. I also used to change classes/kits a lot, though now tend to use mod NPCs instead (ie, if I want a Sorcerer I'll use Tashia or Xan).

A few changes I've tried:

Viconia: Assassin/Cleric - an interesting change, and IMHO it suits her a lot.
Jaheira: Ranger/Cleric
Edwin: Sorcerer
Minsc: Barbarian
Korgan: Fighter/Thief - really great fun, this.

To spice up clerics (and druids) I've also tried the Divine Remix mod, and it certainly adds a lot more uniqueness to clerics, but nerfs them a bit hard IMHO by making a few spells too rare (e.g. Chaotic Commands). YMMV.

 

I don't touch them. If I need someone totally different, I play multiplayer.

 

I went overboard with this once, and went too far changing up NPCs classes. I included the personalities I wanted in order to enjoy the banter, but I gave characters whatever classes I felt led to in order to create an "uber party." The game didn't last long, because the classes just didn't match the personalities. Minsc as a cleric just didn't do the trick for a guy who's obsessed with swords.

If I change classes now, I do it cautiously and sparingly, and it has to make sense for the character. My current runthrough I've SK'd Minsc to a Berserker (Barbarian could have worked well too), but that's the only change. I wasn't even comfortable changing Jaheira to ranger/cleric.

So I treat Bio NPC's classes as fairly sacred these days.

 

I recommend what Kuemper said (instead of touching the existent NPCs).

 

I've changed proficiencies around in the past, I think after a BGI run through I changed Minsc's and Jaheira's profs to resemble more what I chose for them in BGI. Other than that I've messed around with the spell picks of Tashia (npc mod sorcerer).
Having said that I'm kinda contemplating changing a few of the classes around for my next run through, maybe Minsc to a beserker and Nalia or Edwin to a sorcerer.

 

I've fiddled a couple of times, but not all that often. If I can't get the classes I'm wanting with the standard NPCs, then I tend to either use a mod character or consider including a multiplayer character.

 

I always have one MP created character. I am so used to it I can not stop. Other than that I don't generally edit NPCs, save a few proficiency points here and there.

 

I generally leave as is, except for a few instances. (The dual Mage-Thief thing with Nalia and Imoen really annoys me for some reason.)

 

I have rearranged the weapon proficiencies a couple of times but mostly I just leave them alone. I normally pick the NPCs that I want for that game and then pick a PC class to round out the team. I have never really had a problem with making a balanced team that way.

 

Nythrun has a beta version of a mod, linked in the General Mod Discussion area of G3, that pretty much allows all canon NPCs in Tutu, BG1, BG2, and BGT to be recast as whatever you want. They join at close to your experience, with your choisce of class/kit/multi, profs, you name it. I for one often use Imoen as half-elven swashbuckler/mage from Candlekeep on, Jaheira as a Druid/Ranger with staff and sling profs, Khalid as a wide variety of classes, Mazzy as a Paladin, and sometimes Valgayar takes a spin as another profession. Most of the others, though, are written so closely to the original class that I find it hard to mess with them.

 

I should add to my previous post, that the only reason I even changed Minsc to begin with is because it was strongly recommended by a few that I include at least one true fighter character in my Improved Anvil runthrough. So Minsc as a berserker is filling that role, with good hitpoints, attack bonus, saves, grandmastery in flails and biggest sturdiest set of armor and shield I can find for him.

I don't mind that Minsc sometimes refers to himself as a ranger in game. That's the way he sees himself regardless of his actual class. And that's... okay

 

I've never downloaded Shadowkeeper, and never had any desire to. That makes me pretty weird, apparently

 

I change them to make them more useful and fun to play for me personally. I beef up their prime requisites by a point or two and give some strength to the really weak ones because I hate dealing with encumbrance. I change the speed factor to make them all walk faster because as much as I hate being an errand boy, being a slow errand boy is worse. I change weapon proficiencies so that they align better with some of the cooler items in the game.

As far as class changes go, I change Minsk into a berserker kit because, with the exception of his attachment to Boo, Minsc doesn't really display a whole lot of Rangerlike qualities in his banter. More like just a good-aligned warrior protector sort. It seems to me that him being a berserker makes more sense. I may change a pure class character into a kit or change kits or whatever. It’s all about having fun.

 

You don't know the *power* of the dark side.

Meh, I try not make any changes, except slight ones for the main character, raised Aerie's wisdom and intelligence sometimes.
I like Minsc the way he is, scouting and bad spell selection are sometimes surprisingly useful.