NPC Ideas

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I don't like the idea of Gorion as an NPC - I think he would work better on the sidelines, and with the Bhaalspawn saga as a side issue rather than the heart of the matter (see "Different Stories" thread). I'm surprised no-one has suggested the following names:

1. Ribald Barterman (former adventurer and owner of the Adventurer's Mart in BG2);

2. the Dwarf from BG1 in Ulgoth's Beard who sends you off to find Soultaker... can't remember the name, but could easilly be an NPC for BG3;

3. Swift Thomas, the guide from Targos in IWD2, could have become a ranger (preferable) or maybe even a druid or fighter and headed south to the Sword Coast seeking fortune and adventure. IWD2 is set not too long before the Time of Troubles, IIRC, so it's not too much of a stretch.

Here's a few new ideas for NPCs...

A. A young, noble-born and impressionable Paladin of Helm (or maybe a servant of Selune, if they allow a Paladin or Cleric domain like in IWD2) whose brashness and bluster will get you (and him) into considerable trouble. Potential "good guy" love interest for a female PC (make him better than Anomen, for God's sake!), could have family trouble, be disowned for his actions (doing what's right vs. what's lawful, disgracing himself/his family). If kits or prestige classes are being used (should be), something like a BG2 Cavalier would be good, and he could even have a path which leads to him renouncing the strictures of his order so that he can do more for the people he believes need his help;

B. An evil and ambitious Aasimar Wizard or Sorceror, embittered by his/her "unfortunate" birth (as he/she sees it), and who has decided that the only good thing about being an unnatural "freak" is the power and wealth it will bring;

C. An amazingly skilled and deadly young fighter/rogue that's completely ruthless in her approach to everything. Give her a name like Tremisa for the fans of D&D, and if the game includes romances, put her in as the "evil female" love interest - but none of this "redemption" crap, though;

D. A male barbarian or fighter who's completely fearless and who simply loves battle - he'd follow you into hell if it meant he could fight something. Doesn't need to be dumb, but can't be too smart. Someone broadly similar to Korgan, but maybe with more of a Kensai-type feel to him; that he doesn't love blood and slaughter (and money) so much as he does pitting himself against powerful enemies and vanquishing them. Could very easily be a neutral or even a good character; and

E. A young female cleric of some goody-two-shoes god (Ilmater, Lathander, or maybe even one of the non-human pantheon) who is completely naive about the horrors she is about to confront. Over time, she would change and become wiser, more battle hardened, but not necessarily lose her faith. Another case where you could have a truly terrible thing happen for the sake of character development, or where her best efforts to save or redeem a fallen/evil former friend end up nearly getting you all killed.

@ Shrikant: Love the idea about another Jan-esque character. Maybe somewhere between Jan and Tiax would fit best... make him something more like Professor Farnsworth from Futurama, always babbling on about creating a race of invincible steam-powered rabbits or something similar...

 

I'd like too see some real new races, like demons, orcs, vampires, skeletons and more too use for a race.

 

Im not too bothered about what the NPC's are, I would just like to see an equal amount of evil NPC's that are part of the main story line, i.e when starting BGII you could run away from Jon, or team up with him (obviously this story line would never have worked, but would have been a lot more interseting than just being a goody-2-shoes), otherwise whats the point of having alignments if theres no roleplaying aspect to the wrong side of the tracks...

I think having classes like orcs drows vamps etc will always create problems as they are of evil alignment, history shows chars have always been forced to live the good life...but would be a nice idea...

 

It'd be interesting if NPCs could have dynamic alignment as well, this might take some tweaking (it would have to be reflected in the dialogues too) but might be quite remarkable.
Anyway, I'd like to see a decent fighter-thief (or FMT, rare combination though it is) and a specialist necromancer.

 

Unfortunetly what you all seem not to grasp is the fact that most of these NPC's such as Sareavok and Khalid werent alive 400 years prior to the events of the first two titles. One on think (based on the prior two games), that bioware or whomever is making the game would stick true to their history and not include memeber that wouldnt be alive yet. the only possble NPC's who would be alive are elven or dwarven (and dwarven would be a stretch).

 

I'll never gonna buy this game unless they include Yeslik and Coran

They we're my favourite NPC´s in BG 1

 

Err, that number is quite wrong. The game will be set about 10-15 years prior to the first two titles, not 400. Hell, chances are that you could even meet Keldorn and have him with you, and maybe even meet other older guys, like Mazzy as a kid or the like.

 

Still even if its 10-15 years prior, most of the npcs were young in the story..... the only Humans that pop into my mind that would have been 'of age' are keldorn and possibly Minsc. Thats not even going into the fact that it would be completely cheesy to put a young jaheira in the game... a cameo appearence maybe. Please just stick with a completely or almost completely new set of npcs. id be willing to except maybe one from the original games....(maybe keldorn because he is rather old and could percevibly by just starting his adventuring career) . it would be nice to see some more interesting combinations... such as a half-orc priest (shaman). Id love for them to make the game in 2E because i stopped really playing d&d right when 3E came out and spent hours trying to figure out waht was going on playing NWN.

 

The game is not going to be in 2e, bad for you, and it's not going to be in 3e, good for you. It's going to be 3.5e, bad for us all.

 

About Irenicus and Bodhi.
They were already evil before they were cursed, that is why they tried to suck the tree of life dry. They could be a pair of elves with low Con (signifying the curse) and in search of their souls and a way to extend their lives.

 

I think they shuld stear clear of the bg 1 and 2 npc`s. The reason for that is that it takes place (probably) before the player char from bg 1 and 2 is even born. Most of the npc`s would be extremely young or even unborn at the time. Irenicus and Bodhi might be an interesting choice though. It could explain abit how Irenicus knew of the player char`s herritage etc. Gorion I think is a must. And maybe a young Keldorn. A Jansen would be nice too , but the rest would feel too cheesy if they were included.
But with the 3.5 edition rules I belive the whole game would suck big time anyway.
With the bonus points and all.
Acording to the players handbook , if you have 22 strenght score your exactly as strong as an elephant. Just doesn`t seem right to have a halfling barbarian , using rage and becoming as strom as something 200 times his own size hehe.

 

Hm, I myself find it hard to imagine a an enraged half-orc being as strong as an elephant... But a halfling barbarian armwrestling a fire giant really cracks me up, LOL!

BTW, some of the demihumans from BG I might make a cameo, but since they start low-level there, I suppose you shouldn't get them in the party. Then again, you don't need them for a good game. How many reappeared for more than a couple of lines in BGII, after all?

 

I agree with the idea of entirely new NPCs myself. Though cameos of some favorites would be nice, Volo popped into BG1 and ToB didnt he? Drizzt was in BG1 and 2 though bigger part in 2. By far Drizzt is my favorite hero from the D&D realms. Add Drow classes, demon races, etc like stated above. Just because your a Drow, doesnt mean you have to be evil either. Or even demons dont have to be fully evil. Drizzt's a Drow and he is as good as any other hero correct? Though they should and need to add separate paths for good and evil. Two different paths that instead of fighting the big bad guy in it, you join him! That would be smart for those who want to be evil. Theres a lot they could and should do, and hopefully it'll stay the same as the other PC BG's in the style and all. Totally new story or follow right after ToB. Your character doesnt die after all. Not yet at least, you could carry on that. Then we could keep the NPCs from BG1-ToB.

 

Actually they should avoid using ANY npc`s from the previous BG games.
Since it`s going to be in 3.5 rules it would be abit wierd if you get , say Keldorn in it.
Bonus points you know , you get one every 4 levels + you get waaaaaay to much HP (ruins the difficulty abit that). So it would look mongoloid if Keldorn had stats for 3.5 edition (very high stat score when you finish BG3 and a high HP score)
And then have maybe a 4th of the HP in BG2 , wich takes place later. I`m sure you get my drill. Just would feel right.

As for Demon`s being pure evil. I think they are pure evil. Thats why they become demons in the first place.

 

I hope that they create a goodly pure wizard (not multi or dual classed please). For me that was the one of the main problems in BG2, since i don't like to play with spellcasters. That's because i never put nobody else except myself as party leader, and as party leader i want a tank. I know, i know...i can change the formation...but that's me, i'm coherent.

 

I want to have a greater variety of NPCs. e.g. an evil thief, a good wizard, a monk, a barbarian, a sorcerer, a wild mage etc

 

@Harbourboy:Huh, a wild mage? How would that be possible prior to the Time of Troubles if wild magic is the effect coming directly from it?

@Shrikant:
Jon Irenicus (now this is one guy an evil PC will definately want)
Was he already expelled from the elves then? I believe not...

Bodhi (before she became a vampire)
Same here.

@Kam
Balduran, obviously. But as a Paladin? He's a pirate for cryin out loud! Make him a fighter/rogue. Ooh, maybe with the Dualist PrC.
Yeah, and he would be like... 500 years old? Come on! The guy is dead and buried. Forget it

Token Hot Drow Chick. Preferably NOT a cleric this time.
Oh, what class then? As you should know, drow girls are raised in Lolth's temples to become priestesses, there are no other career choices for them. Unless they are born on the surface, in which case "Yet Another Chaotic Good Drow Renegade Who Want To Improve Their Race's Image" is a cliche so boring that... Ugh. Plus, when they're born and brought up on the surface, they do not differ much from Moon Elves.

-- A longer explanation:
Drizzt should be seen as the first Drow to emerge onto the surface according to the canon. Because that happened not long before the events that would be described in BG3 (I'll check the timeline eventually), there would be no Drow born on the surface. Even if they were born soon after Drizzt's exploits (if we assume more Drow emerged and were more openly greeted), so they wouldn't be old enough for adventuring. If it would be a female Drow, she would have to come out from the Underdark. In which case she would be a priestess. And probably an evil one, unless she converted to Ellistraee. She would still be a cleric, though - stats would prevent her from choosing anything different. The only other possibility I would see is that a hero party would wreak havoc in some random Drow city and spare a young girl's life then - let's say equivalent to 12 year old human - who would be terrified by the fight, but never embraced the faith of Lolth (in which case she would be cast out). But let's leave the canon-incompliant characters to modders and leave Bioware to stick to the canon, ok?

@Kitrax:
Safana - human. Not born yet.
Aerie - in the circus. Oh, if it comes further north, why not?
Imoen - not born yet.
Sarevok - not born yet.
Edwin - about 5 then?

---

As for NPCs - I'm for variety and interesting characters. I don't want 18/00;18;18;12;12;12 fighters (even though it's easy to roll such stats, maybe without the /00), 10;10;16;18;16;16 wizards and so on. In one sentence: I don't want characters who serve only as workload horses. That isn't roleplaying, after all. And BG3 would be based on 3E rules, so NPCs would get the opportunity to become more powerful (including stats), no worries.
Oh, and I would love to see items that would have an effect on roleplaying. Some powerful items of opposite alignment or gender change. Your choice to wear them and utilise their effects, but effects on party members apply as well. For example, a lawful and stable LN person becoming CN and completely unstable - also mentally - to random effects. Not to mention paladins or rangers would fall because of them - if they even agree to wear them. Might be quite interesting.

[ December 16, 2004, 01:49: Message edited by: toughluck ]

 

I don't even know what the "Time of Troubles" is so cannot answer your question.

 

The Time Of Troubles was a time when the Gods where walking the face of Faerun (because Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal stole the tablets of fate from Ao, the "god of the gods"). During that time due to the destruction of the god of magic, the magic ceased to exist. When that time ended and the god of magic was replaced, all went back to normal, except the dead magic and wild magic zones. So thoughluck is telling you that wild mages can't exist in a setting before the Time of Troubles because there were no wild magic zones yet.

You can read more in the Avatar trilogy books.

 

I`m actually reading those now. Half way into book 1 , looks promising.

For the record those of you who want assassin , cavalier , wizard slayer etc classes in bg3 It wont happen.

in the new rules these are all prestige classes , wich means you cant get them untill around level 8.
Pluss with the new multiclass system , you can multiclass anyone to anything. So I suspect the game will be too easy because of it. No limitations to our chars and stuff like that. Make a sorcerer , give him 2 levels of paladin JUST for the saveing throw bonuses etc. and give everyone else a fighter level. Wich means you can use any weapon (non exotic) and any armor.
The game will have too few limitations I think , and I`m sorry to say I belive it will be for the worse