Kits to fit

Remove all ads!

Though this has probably been done to death, I want to add a new twist to the "changing NPCs" debate: true PnP kits. None of the BG2 crap, just good ol' 2e kits. And FYI, while BG2 considers the specialization of wizards as a kit for engine reasons (and ease of coding), in PnP they are not. Kits can be chosen as well as a specialty. I'll start with BG1...ahem, Tutu NPCs.

• Ajantis - No real personality outside of the standard paladin, I wouldn't really give him a kit.
• Alora - Though I would say swashbuckler since that is what she's turned into in the NPC mod that introduces her to BG2, swashbucklers require 13 in four different stats: STR, DEX, INT, CHA. BG1 Alora does not qualify, with only 8 STR (raised to 14 in her BG2 version) and 10 CHA. However, she would also make a good halfling burglar. (Some confusion may result from that statement since the burglar described in the Complete Thieves' Handbook requires 10 STR & 13 DEX, but I am instead talking about the halfling burglar kit detailed in the Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings.)
• Branwen - I'd call her a pariah, but there does not appear to be a human priest kit for that. Likely I'd just make one up based on the dwarven pariah kit.
• Coran - The only elven F/T kit is the Huntsman, and it fits him to a T.
• Dynaheir - Amazon Sorceress. (Now before you go getting excited, the Amazon Sorceress is a wizard, not a sorcerer. There is no such thing as a sorcerer in 2e.) Basically the kit is about being a woman in a man's world. They get a bonus in combat until their first hit based on the men underestimating them. The RP side of it, coming from a tribe in an area with a harsh climate, fits perfectly with Dynaheir's backstory.
• Edwin - Patrician. It's the wizard's "rich kit". The "rich kits" get more money to start and are held in high regard, but have to pay a lot more for everything.
• Eldoth - Assassin. Yeah, you heard me. Screw the whole bard thing, he's nothing more than a charismatic assassin. Assassins are experts in poison, so the poison arrows he makes practically scream assassin.
• Faldorn - I regret to say that I am not currently in possession of the Complete Book of Druids. Taking from BG2's kits (and hoping to hell they're better implemented than some of the other kits), I'd say Totemic. Summoning a dread wolf sounds like Totemic.
• Garrick - Nothing really fits. I'd call him a true bard.
• Imoen - Plain thief. I wouldn't have my dear sis any other way.
• Jaheira - She's an NG ranger and we all know it. And I have to admit that the hawkishness of her features makes me think first of the Falconer. None of the kits are particularly appropriate to her nature, though. Ranger/'Druids' are actually allowed in special circumstances, however, if there is a Good nature deity for them to worship (they are essentially R/Cs of a specific ethos which is very close to druidity, if "druidity" is even a word). Being a R/'D' of Mielikki sounds quite good for Jaheira.
• Kagain - The dwarven Axe For Hire fits Kagain pretty well.
• Khalid - Feels like a plain fighter to me. That, and none of the kits fit him.
• Kivan - Elven archer. I sincerely doubt anyone will dispute me on this one. (I'd also like to point out that the archer is an elf-only warrior kit, meaning that any elven fighter or ranger can take it, but noone else can.)
• Minsc - My first thought would be Barbarian, but PnP Barbarians do not rage (at least the fighter kit doesn't; barbarians were expanded in the Complete Book of Barbarians, and some things may have changed, like perhaps the addition of some raging barbarian kit). Berserker might fit him, but I have also stumbled across a ranger kit by the name of Mountain Man. Instead of rage, it has something called Will To Live, that gives him extra vitality when near death and helps him resist death magic. Nothing is really adequate for our Minsc, though; he remains unique.
• Montaron - The three halfling F/T kits are Cartographer, Trader, and Traveler. None of them even comes close to Montaron's psychosis, nor do any Fighter or Thief kits. (Well, perhaps the Thug thief kit comes close, but still no cigar.) Even looking through other races' kits turned up nothing quite matching his bloodlust and style. Looks like Monty's just a plain F/T.
• Quayle - There's a gnomish illusionist kit called the Vanisher that's fairly self-explanatory. Quayle's extra ability to vanish sets him pretty well into this kit.
• Safana - Now she's a bard. A Charlatan, to be exact; an expert manipulator of people.
• Shar-Teel - She's certainly an Amazon wanna-be, and her challenge to a dual speaks of Gladiator background. I'd say she's a former (likely escaped) Gladiator with Amazonian background who was kidnapped as a child and forced to fight in an arena by men. (Her background doesn't go into too much depth, and I took artistic license. So sue me. )
• Skie - Personally, I wouldn't even class this annoyance; she'd be a 0-level innocent with a few minor thieving skills. If you insist on a kit, I'll make up a Whiny Spoiled Brat "rich kit".
• Tiax - Another unique one due to psychosis. It's not so much that psychosis is forbidden for people with kits as that there is no other defining factor in the psychotic NPCs' personality that lends itself to choosing an appropriate kit. Personalities are usually added on top of kits and tend to overwhelm them if they are made too strong.
• Viconia - And again there is no pariah or outcast kit. Dwarven priests seem to have a monopoly on that one.
• Xan - I daresay Xan deserves his own kit to go with his Moonblade. Isn't there one in FR source books, and if so, would someone kindly enlighten me?
• Xzar - Psychosis again. How annoying.
• Yeslick - The only dwarven F/C kit out of the three that he qualifies for statistically is the Temple Guard, which doesn't fit his background. Instead, I'd give him the Clansdwarf dwarven warrior kit which is just basically the dwarven stereotype, which Yeslick fits into nicely.

This took waaaaay too long, so I'm going to leave the BG2 NPCs to a later time. Questions/comments?

 

Why should only elves be allowed to be archers? Surely anybody should be able to study and become good at shooting arrows at stuff.

But Mountain Man sounds pretty cool for Minsc - so long as they have French accents.

[ March 30, 2006, 06:44: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

Good, yes, but not to the exceptional level of elven archers. Even regular elves, who practice for decades, don't get as good as these highly specialized archers, whose hands feel empty without a bow in them. Can a human train heavily for more than 50 years on a single weapon while remaining in the best health of their lives? I don't think so. Remember that the starting age for elven adventurers averages at ~118 years of age, while most humans that age would be dead from old age, and the rest would be decrepit shells. With humans starting at the average age of ~18, that is one hell of a difference in time.

Elven archers take their skill beyond even the level of art, to near perfection in the better half of a century of disciplined training. Elves also have the benefit of having created bows in the first place; they are made specifically for elves. (The same way dwarves created the crossbow and halflings own the sling; dwarves have a fighter kit called the Sharpshooter that I won't go into here, and Halflings have a fighter kit called the Slinger that I really shouldn't have to. Of course, I mention these only as an aside; neither of them compares to the extreme skill of an elven archer.)

EDIT:
Now, I'm not saying that other races cannot become archers, specializing in their chosen ranged weapon, just that they cannot take the elven archer kit. For humans and half-elves, it is simply beyond the limits of their longevity. And the smaller races tend to avoid bows since they can only use short bows (long bows are quite simply too large; try using one even just while kneeling and you'll likely see what I mean). Besides, dwarves and halflings have their own preferred weapons, and gnomes like to tinker with complex machines and magic.

[ March 30, 2006, 07:06: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

Now for the BG2 NPCs...

• Aerie - First of all, elven C/Ms are illegal, so she's definitely not keeping her class. However, in deference to her background in gnomish beliefs, I believe I would give her the gnomish Treetender kit (as a pure cleric with different stats that might even rival Viconia). The kit's main differences are that they can Set Snares (AKA could use basic thief traps), but cannot wear metal armor or use any weapons that are at least 10% metal by weight.
• Anomen - Couldn't he have just been a paladin? Unfortunately, the paladin kit that fits him, the Votary, requires a vow of celibacy, effectively cutting out his romance. Hmm, maybe that wouldn't be so bad... Seriously though, I'd go with the Noble Warrior "rich" fighter kit for him since he comes from the rich Delryn merchant family.
• Cernd - Alas, as I said before, I do not have the Complete Book of Druids, so I can't comment on kits. The one thing I will say, however, is that Cernd seems like the perfect plain druid in his personality; he is everything a druid should strive to be, and I wouldn't kit him unless there was a kit that somehow fit him more perfectly than pure druidity does. Even without reading the book, I kind of doubt it.
• Edwin - See above
• Haer'Dalis - Haerry being a blade is pure idiocy. The man is a Thespian; nothing more, nothing less. Thespians do have some minor combat bonuses, and almost no hindrances. (It literally says "Special Hindrances: None." after a full page of minor benefits; it's my favorite bard kit.) The one hindrance that the kit does have is that they don't get weapon proficiencies. Instead, they have a strict proficiency schedule where they get the dagger at first level, the knife at second level, and the short sword at fifth level; then it stops (no more proficiencies). Offsetting this is that Thespians only suffer a -2 non-proficiency penalty rather than the normal -3 of most bards. So basically, HD would have dagger and short sword but wouldn't gain any others, ever; this fits in rather well with his specialty weapons being a pair of short swords.
• Imoen - See above
• Jaheira - See above
• Jan - The only I/T kit in the Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings is the Buffoon. The book itself describes the kit far better than I could hope to: "The name of this character kit is in no way a reflection on the intelligence of the character who plays the role. It does, however, reflect the way the non-gnomish world views him or her -- it is a gentle deception that can consistently cause enemies and NPCs to underestimate or even ignore the character. Indeed, the Buffoon carefully cultivates this role, often even to the point of concealing the fact that he or she possesses illusionist skills. In order to take this kit, a character must have an Intelligence of at least 15." So you can see that the kit actually requires a high level of intelligence and the character would necessarilly be only playing a buffoon when taking the kit. Simply switch storytelling for juggling and cavorting, and you've got Jan in a nutshell.
• Keldorn - The Inquisitor fits Keldorn so well, and is actually THE best implemented kit in the entire game, syncing perfectly with the PnP kit. Keldorn is as he should be, through and through. For once, I am forced to say, "Good job, Bioware!"
• Korgan - The dwarven Battlerager kit is Korgan to a T, just a tiny bit beyond the standard berserker kit. And of course, I simply must quote you this line because it not only shows how perfect Korgan is for the Battlerager kit, but it's also kinda funny, in a strange way. "Special Hindrances: Being a psychpathic killer with an axe is a special hindrance in itself, particularly because he is a liability to himself and all those who adventure with him." (Anybody remember his descriptions of what happened to the members of his last party? )
• Mazzy - I have said it elsewhere and I will say it again: Mazzy is a perfect candidate for the demi-paladins outlined in the Complete Paladin's Handbook. They are F/Cs with paladin powers. Can you imagine Mazzy wielding a sling, hammer, or mace? I know I have, and I usually give her the MoD when I take her. I've even thought of making a mod to turn her into a demi-paladin. ( Or maybe I could just speak to the people who made the Mazzy the Paladin mod about adding an alternate kit...)
• Minsc - See above
• Nalia - See Skie above.
• Sarevok - Deathbringer kit. Nothing really fits this bad boy, so I think he should have his own kit designed for him.
• Valygar - My first instinct is to call Valygar a Wizardslayer, but AFAIK there is no such PnP kit. I also find it funny that his kit is called Stalker while it is actually a lot closer to Seeker, the "extra spell" kit for rangers. And what is worse, the extra spells he gets kind of clash with his anti-magic attitude. Somebody really screwed up there. And finally, he has the stats for neither kit, as Seekers need at least 15 WIS (while Valygar has the minimum 14 for rangers), and Stalkers need 14 INT (while Valygar has only 10). In fact, no ranger kit really fits Valygar. But the Outlaw fighter kit fits rather well. For stealth and backstabbing, why not make him a F/T? (We could always use another thief in the game besides Jan.) You could make him half-elven, or just make him dualled; it worked well for Anomen, and Valygar has the stats for it in either direction.
• Viconia - See above
• Yoshimo - Unless the 'bounty' he's 'hunting' for is you, I wouldn't call him a bounty hunter. No, I'm afraid Yoshi is much better suited as a Spy. Infiltrating ranks seems to be right up his alley, if you know what I mean.

 

OK, I get how an elf could be a reasonably good archer, but why can't they be Cleric / Mages? With their many idle hours, surely they can learn anything.

 

I guess elves value their religion so much, they never want to mix it with another subject. Just a thought.

 

But surely that theory could apply equally to any species / genus / race of intelligent being.

 

The simple truth is that elves are unable to mix arcane magic with divine magic (don't ask me why). Not only can they not be M/Cs, they can't be F/M/Cs either. You'd think that if any race was best suited to have all multi options available, it would be the long-lived elves, not the "nearly as short-lived as humans" half-elves, but apparently there is something holding them back. Perhaps the two racial concepts of arcane and divine are simply mutually exclusive for the elves. Whatever the reason, they can't and that's that.

 

So does that mean that they also can't be those rangers and druid kits that have access to a limited range of arcane spells?

 

Tecnically, can elves even become rangers and druids? I am not sure, I thought only half-elves and humans were able to do that. Or am I wrong?

 

@HB:
No. Noone can. There are no such kits in PnP.

@Silverstar:
Elves can become rangers (can we say Kivan?), but not druids.

However, an elven cleric worshipping a nature deity could function quite similar to the druid, even down to weapon choices. But the R/'D' is limited to half-elves since only they can take the R/C multi-class, or F/D for that matter. But again, an elven F/C devoted to a nature deity could mimic an F/D quite well.

 

Fel: How does your listing in The Complete Book of D&D Fanatics read?

 

I hear it speaks of me quite favorably. I believe my Useless Lore non-weapon proficiency is nearly automatic.

 

UPDATE:
Having gotten the Complete Book of Druids, I've looked through it and Faldorn looks like an Avenger. There's nothing for summoning animals (Totemics just have an extra shapeshift into their totem animal), and the attitude goes straight to Avenger. Not that the BG2 kit is even close to what an Avenger really is...

Jaheira doesn't really fit any of them, though I'd be tempted to say Adviser given how she sees her role with you.

 

Well going by Jaheria's attitude, wouldn't creating a 'Mother' kit be more suitable?