Let's Make a Mod - Adonai and Lola
DrEast
Member Posts: 113
Hello all!
I'm attempting to make a mod that I had almost completed for the original BG:Tutu when EE hit the digital shelves. I decided on this project because it touches on a lot of different aspects of modding, and I liked the characters. I've decided I'd like to let people have some feedback on it as I make it, since it may be a useful educational opportunity for people other than me. Remember, the best way to learn something is to teach it!
The mod in its conceived form creates two joinable NPCs and adds a small quest involving them. The two NPC's are:
Adonai: Lawful Good Male Human Inquisitor
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 14
Cha 17
Proficiencies: 2hs: **
2h weapon: **
Special Ability: Scribe Scroll (as the Wizard HLA) 1/day, from years serving the church of Oghma. This ability needs to be modified so that the scrolls produced are sellable for 1gp apiece to prevent Adonai from being a money generating engine.
Lola: Chaotic Evil Female Human Jester
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 16
Wis 8
Cha 16
Proficiencies: Katana: *
Crossbow: *
Note that Lola's stat layout is exceptional; however, she has no special abilities (beyond those present in her class).
Special Equipment:
Adonai: Blade of the Redeemer (only usable by Adonai). This two-handed sword has no bonuses to attack or damage, but hits as a +6 weapon. At every third level, this sword adds a +1 bonus to Str, Con, and Dex, maxing out at +5 at 15th level.
Lola: Jester's Cap (only usable by Lola). This hat gives +1 to AC and +1 to all saves. It does not conflict with protection items.
Note: "Only usable by" is not strictly enforced in Tutu; I'm not sure about EE. We could, however, restrict the cap to chaotic evil human jesters with at least Lola's stats, for instance. Alternatively, we could make the cap unremovable, although I don't intend to do that.
Lola: Fat Bastard. Lola's familiar, a Quasit, exemplifies sloth. It can not be removed from her bag; it has a weight of 10 pounds and gives her the standard HP bonus for a familiar of its type.
The quest involves Adonai, who's known the protagonist since they were both kids, being assigned to assist Lola in apprehending a mage who has acquired a sample of her hair for purposes unknown. As the story starts, they despise each other, but Lola is desperate enough to find the mage that she's willing to put up with him, and he's under orders from his superiors to put up with her. This backstory explains Adonai's kit, which has the added benefit of being easily converted to the Blackguard kit.
As the quest proceeds, Adonai and Lola become cursed by the mage (at the Friendly Arm Inn) so that their souls become entangled. As soul magic is usually the purview of demonic forces, a tanari promptly shows up and rips the mage to shreds. As their souls are intertwined, the two end up very quickly falling in love (or, rather, a sort of love/hate state) and (after fruitlessly seeking help from Thalantyr and Kelddath Ormlyr) getting married; their wedding rings are then used to fill a ring slot, providing another intrinsic disadvantage to counter their special abilities and high stats. As an extra modding challenge, the script needs to be configured so that the rings don't overwrite the rings they are already wearing.
Finally, after they are married (at which point they will no longer leave the party due to reputation), if the party's reputation hits 20 or 1 and the party sleeps outdoors, an archon or a baatezu will appear and offer a deal.
Reputation 20: An archon appears to Lola and explains that if things continue on their present course, Lola and Adonai would both end up trapped in Kelemvor's City of the Dead, as souls unable to progress to their proper fate due to their interlocked nature. While this might be preferred to Lola's original fate of being devoured by demons in the abyss, it would mean that Lola would have denied Adonai his eternal reward, becoming a source of eternal torment for him. This shakes Lola so much that she agrees to seek redemption; her alignment shifts to Chaotic Good and she picks up the ability to scribe scrolls as the priest HLA (again, modified to sell for 1gp).
Reputation 1: A baatezu appears to Adonai and offers a deal. In the current course, Adonai will be forever trapped in the City of the Dead, no longer serving the forces of righteousness. However, should Adonai shift allegiance to Asmodeus, he will be promoted to devilhood upon his entrance to the Nine Hells and made a lieutenant in the Blood War. Lola's soul will be similarly transformed into the form of a Succubus, bound to serve Adonai through enchanted iron chains. As a warrior in the Blood War, Adonai's eternal fate would be to wage war against demons... no real loss for the forces of righteousness, and better to rule in hell than to serve in limbo. Adonai accepts the deal; his alignment shifts to Lawful Evil and he becomes a Blackguard, retaining all dispel magic and true sight abilities he already possessed in lieu of the poison weapon ability the Blackguard gains at the same levels. As a modding challenge, the Aura of Despair needs to be added properly depending on his level.
Finally, if at any time either Adonai or Lola die and are kicked from the party OR are gibbed, the other will leave (early) or kill themselves in despair (later), preventing this from being a viable option to only keep one of them.
It's a simple mod in theory (and easier to do now that an official blackguard class exists), but has enough twists to be quite thorough in its exploration of the modding system. Final steps would involve voicing the characters' lines.
Since I unfortunately don't have a lot of time at the moment, it may take a while to update this discussion, but I'll take y'all step by step through the modding process as I do it. Feedback is encouraged! Hopefully the end result will be a fun mod that I can distribute to whoever wants it. (Upgrading to BG:2 will be done when BG2:EE is released, and the difficulties of incorporating the player's progress in the first game will be considered when we know how BG2:EE will work.)
I'm attempting to make a mod that I had almost completed for the original BG:Tutu when EE hit the digital shelves. I decided on this project because it touches on a lot of different aspects of modding, and I liked the characters. I've decided I'd like to let people have some feedback on it as I make it, since it may be a useful educational opportunity for people other than me. Remember, the best way to learn something is to teach it!
The mod in its conceived form creates two joinable NPCs and adds a small quest involving them. The two NPC's are:
Adonai: Lawful Good Male Human Inquisitor
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 14
Cha 17
Proficiencies: 2hs: **
2h weapon: **
Special Ability: Scribe Scroll (as the Wizard HLA) 1/day, from years serving the church of Oghma. This ability needs to be modified so that the scrolls produced are sellable for 1gp apiece to prevent Adonai from being a money generating engine.
Lola: Chaotic Evil Female Human Jester
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 16
Wis 8
Cha 16
Proficiencies: Katana: *
Crossbow: *
Note that Lola's stat layout is exceptional; however, she has no special abilities (beyond those present in her class).
Special Equipment:
Adonai: Blade of the Redeemer (only usable by Adonai). This two-handed sword has no bonuses to attack or damage, but hits as a +6 weapon. At every third level, this sword adds a +1 bonus to Str, Con, and Dex, maxing out at +5 at 15th level.
Lola: Jester's Cap (only usable by Lola). This hat gives +1 to AC and +1 to all saves. It does not conflict with protection items.
Note: "Only usable by" is not strictly enforced in Tutu; I'm not sure about EE. We could, however, restrict the cap to chaotic evil human jesters with at least Lola's stats, for instance. Alternatively, we could make the cap unremovable, although I don't intend to do that.
Lola: Fat Bastard. Lola's familiar, a Quasit, exemplifies sloth. It can not be removed from her bag; it has a weight of 10 pounds and gives her the standard HP bonus for a familiar of its type.
The quest involves Adonai, who's known the protagonist since they were both kids, being assigned to assist Lola in apprehending a mage who has acquired a sample of her hair for purposes unknown. As the story starts, they despise each other, but Lola is desperate enough to find the mage that she's willing to put up with him, and he's under orders from his superiors to put up with her. This backstory explains Adonai's kit, which has the added benefit of being easily converted to the Blackguard kit.
As the quest proceeds, Adonai and Lola become cursed by the mage (at the Friendly Arm Inn) so that their souls become entangled. As soul magic is usually the purview of demonic forces, a tanari promptly shows up and rips the mage to shreds. As their souls are intertwined, the two end up very quickly falling in love (or, rather, a sort of love/hate state) and (after fruitlessly seeking help from Thalantyr and Kelddath Ormlyr) getting married; their wedding rings are then used to fill a ring slot, providing another intrinsic disadvantage to counter their special abilities and high stats. As an extra modding challenge, the script needs to be configured so that the rings don't overwrite the rings they are already wearing.
Finally, after they are married (at which point they will no longer leave the party due to reputation), if the party's reputation hits 20 or 1 and the party sleeps outdoors, an archon or a baatezu will appear and offer a deal.
Reputation 20: An archon appears to Lola and explains that if things continue on their present course, Lola and Adonai would both end up trapped in Kelemvor's City of the Dead, as souls unable to progress to their proper fate due to their interlocked nature. While this might be preferred to Lola's original fate of being devoured by demons in the abyss, it would mean that Lola would have denied Adonai his eternal reward, becoming a source of eternal torment for him. This shakes Lola so much that she agrees to seek redemption; her alignment shifts to Chaotic Good and she picks up the ability to scribe scrolls as the priest HLA (again, modified to sell for 1gp).
Reputation 1: A baatezu appears to Adonai and offers a deal. In the current course, Adonai will be forever trapped in the City of the Dead, no longer serving the forces of righteousness. However, should Adonai shift allegiance to Asmodeus, he will be promoted to devilhood upon his entrance to the Nine Hells and made a lieutenant in the Blood War. Lola's soul will be similarly transformed into the form of a Succubus, bound to serve Adonai through enchanted iron chains. As a warrior in the Blood War, Adonai's eternal fate would be to wage war against demons... no real loss for the forces of righteousness, and better to rule in hell than to serve in limbo. Adonai accepts the deal; his alignment shifts to Lawful Evil and he becomes a Blackguard, retaining all dispel magic and true sight abilities he already possessed in lieu of the poison weapon ability the Blackguard gains at the same levels. As a modding challenge, the Aura of Despair needs to be added properly depending on his level.
Finally, if at any time either Adonai or Lola die and are kicked from the party OR are gibbed, the other will leave (early) or kill themselves in despair (later), preventing this from being a viable option to only keep one of them.
It's a simple mod in theory (and easier to do now that an official blackguard class exists), but has enough twists to be quite thorough in its exploration of the modding system. Final steps would involve voicing the characters' lines.
Since I unfortunately don't have a lot of time at the moment, it may take a while to update this discussion, but I'll take y'all step by step through the modding process as I do it. Feedback is encouraged! Hopefully the end result will be a fun mod that I can distribute to whoever wants it. (Upgrading to BG:2 will be done when BG2:EE is released, and the difficulties of incorporating the player's progress in the first game will be considered when we know how BG2:EE will work.)
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Comments
Adonai's stats have a lot of 14's, this is unusual, but at least he is not a power gamer right? RIGHT? well that all changes in BG2 at the level of 15 where he becomes 19, 19, 19. I assume the balance is based on the fact the weapon itself will not give a thac0 or damage bonus, so much rely on the 19's at this level to counteract this. Upon further thought this is possibly a valid excuse :P.
Lola does have fantastic stat's, I know you have argued that having no special abilities counter's this, but she has a magic hat. On top of this, I am pretty sure a reduction to 15 intelligence would not effect anything but %chance of spell being learnt, but looks a little more natural for someone with 18 16 16 16 in good stats. Though it is not super important.
The only thing I haven't decided is if Blackguard Adonai should have an equivalent corrupted version, or if his sword should be more inherently evil (and possibly level-based as an advanced example of such a weapon script). After all, the goal of this project is to serve as a teaching aid to people hoping to implement their own mod above all else, so I'm not particularly worried about the characters being overpowered (they'd almost have to be given the fact that I'm trying to make a lot of changes), but I don't think these two are (admittedly Lola's stats are high, but see Imoen for a comparable NPC... and Lola's high charisma is irrelevant, since she's force-paired with a Paladin).
I'm outlining each step as I'll take it. The idea is to keep an eye on always having a working version of the mod for testing purposes. As a programmer, I'm the first to know that proper testing is the only way to ensure quality product. Thus, after step 3, the mod should always be in a broadly playable state. (Anyone know of a good free file distribution site to use for anyone who wants to try this out?)
Recommended Tools: Weidu (with fixes for BG:EE), Near Infinity, Shadowkeeper, Crimson Editor (or other editing software w/ the proper scripting setup). Suggestions to make the process easier are encouraged!
Part 1: Character generation
Step 1: Creating joinable NPC characters
Step 2: Creating unique items OR how to prevent every gold ring in the game from turning into Lola's
Wedding Ring.
Step 3: Scripting join-up dialogue and location.
(After this point, the mod should be playable)
Step 4: Scripting banter (optional)
Part 2: Quest creation
Step 1: Creating NPCs.
Step 2: Global quest variables and you!
Step 3: Cutscenes.
Part 3: Finishing touches
- Voice acting OR how to avoid the embarrassment of the people in the next apartment hearing you
shout into the microphone like the world's nerdiest paladin. (Hint: Can't be done.)
- Portrait switching for good and evil (possible?)
- Voice switching for good and evil (possible?)
The "scope" of a variable (function, etc.) in a computer program or script is the set of computer functions, methods, procedures, etc. (depending on your local nomenclature) that will reference that variable when presented with the string of characters that represents the variable's name. A variable has "global scope" when all blocks of execution recognize that variable. Every variable in every script in the override folder of the infinity engine has global scope. This means that if you wish to create a mod that will work with other mods, you need to ensure that your variables are uniquely named. This is accomplished through the use of a two-letter prefix.
Prefixes are reserved through this site. Scrolling down, you'll note that I've reserved the "DZ" prefix, which I'll be using for this mod/tutorial.
Step 0b: Clean installations and multiple files.
Mods can be messy, tricky things. Even if you try to ensure that your mod will work with as many others as possible, you may discover that you've borked up your mod or someone else's along the way. Always follow these simple rules when creating a mod:
a) Ensure Dependencies Are Understood. In my example, Lola is a Chaotic Evil Jester. In the default rules, this alignment is inconsistent with the rules for creating a Jester. Under the Rogue Rebalancing ruleset, however, Jesters must be partly Chaotic, which brings the rules closer in line to the PnP D&D ruleset (which is always my preference). HOWEVER, this is not strictly speaking a dependency; I could make Lola Chaotic Evil very easily (through Shadowkeeper), so I don't need to list this. However, if Lola receives a quest from the Rogue item seller that RR creates, that IS a dependency; similarly, if I need an item from that mod, that's also a dependency unless I copy it and include it in my own mod. Make sure your users know what mods your "base case" is based on; the best mods are designed with a clean (and patched) install. Also ensure that you understand how to activate and use the CLUAConsole; as a modder, you're more developer than player, and you need to use this tool often to ensure your scripts are working properly.
b) Keep Your Mod Files Backed Up. You will be making mistakes, and those mistakes will ruin everything and be impossible (or at least very difficult) to locate. Make sure you have a backup copy of your material to use as a fresh starting point.
c) Back Up Your BG:EE Install Too. Some mistakes made when modding can ruin... everything, in WEIRD ways. Make sure you work with a clean (and patched) install, and be prepared to reinstall (and repatch) it at a moment's notice.