A half-orc and a gnome? Puh-lease, that's just ridiculous (and probably a criminal offence in most jurisdictions).
What's wrong with a gnome and a half-orc finding love in one another? Buddy, this is a fantasy world - and seeing how this particular fantasy world works, I think only a few, if any, jurisdictions would actually criminalize affairs between different sentient races - as long as it is consensual affairs we speak of.
I had a couple of relationships with half-orcs in an obscure cult back in the sixties as I recall with no really terrible consequences - well aside from that one incident with the unicorn...
Presumably because those races (Humans, elves, orcs) are fairly humanlike in their physique (and sizes).
Shorties should be able to romance other shorties perhaps... I've never heard of such a thing as a half-dwarf or a three-quarterling (or even a gnarf or gnomeling). Sure, they could have some sort of platonic romance, but that's just an elaborate word for a very close friendship...
Pay attention in Durlag's Tower. One of the warriors you can release from their statues in the Wyvern room is introduced as "half-dwarf".
While I think that the species should not play a role in the romance stuff, I do agree with @Gallowglass that it is a cheap solution to give Dorn no restrictions at all and call it a day. So many people argue "different people, different tastes" when it comes to wether species 1 should be able to romance species 2, but Dorn has absolutely no taste whatsoever and it doesn't suit him. He is already very picky about his friends, why would he have no requirements at all for a lover? Plus, I know I'll find it weird if he hits on every charname I can possibly make in BG2 - that will get old really fast since I mostly play evil and won't have that many options for a full party.
I'd prefer it if romances (or friendships, which I personally find more interesting) would not be tied to race and gender, but stats. For example, Dorn respects strength, so make that his requirement. Maybe even get creative and make 2 stats required, i.e. NPC 1 will only be available to charnames with x intelligence and x charisma, NPC 2 only if x strength and x wisdom, NPC 3 something else... That would solve all the "why can't X romance a charname of race Y" issues.
I'd prefer it if romances (or friendships, which I personally find more interesting) would not be tied to race and gender, but stats. For example, Dorn respects strength, so make that his requirement. Maybe even get creative and make 2 stats required, i.e. NPC 1 will only be available to charnames with x intelligence and x charisma, NPC 2 only if x strength and x wisdom, NPC 3 something else... That would solve all the "why can't X romance a charname of race Y" issues.
The Edwin romance mod did this with INT (I believe you needed a minimum of 14 INT), so its certainly possible, and would make sense.
I think Dorn's valuing strength can be construed more broadly, though. It'd be more likely for him to have a requirement that Charname must have 'above X' in their primary stat, showing that they're highly competent at what they do.
Yeah, there are other requirements that might work better than a simple "must have 16 strength or higher". I think you could even tie it to other things, like "must have 2 pips in (whatever) sword" or something. As it is, it can already depend on the alignment, which is independant from what people dislike as restriction (race, gender). It would depend on the NPC. In a perfect world, they all would have different requirements - some would be straight, some gay, some bi, some value stats, some value weapon profs, some want their own alignment, others are in the "opposites attract" camp; and combinations of all that. The perferences would add to the personalities - some NPCs would be more "superficial" than others (pay attention to looks/race above everything else), others more "open-minded". It would make the entire mechanic more interesting.
A half-orc and a gnome? Puh-lease, that's just ridiculous (and probably a criminal offence in most jurisdictions).
I wish Overhaul would disallow such a ridiculous romance. By all means make a shorty NPC romance-able to satisfy player demand for romance options for shorty protagonists, but offering a half-orc as the universal solution for all romance-less protagonists is implausible (and makes Overhaul look cheap).
I do realise (and so does Charname, eventually) that Bhaal was ... umm, remarkably flexible in his dalliances. But that's different, he was a god and could do things which aren't feasible for mortals.
Pssshhh. What? Who cares about realism when you can have blatant fan-service!! :DDDDD
@KidCarnival I stand corrected on the half-dwarf: I'd never heard of one before that! I think it's safe to say that cross-species romances are few and far between and increasingly so the more different the species are. I am not, and never was, opposed to cross species romances, each to his own. But as you said above, it has to fit the character, otherwise it just feels wrong wrong wrong. Viconia won't romance an elf for obvious reasons, that just makes plain sense. As far as I know Aerie will romance gnomes already which also makes perfect sense because of her foster father. Halflings are a little bit luckier, aren't they always, than the other shorties with love. Only dwarves miss out completely.
But then again, all my arguments could be superfluous since:
Charname's father slept with pretty much everything with some semblance of intellect, bipedalism optional. Maybe Charname stirring up some emotions in his companion humanoids is understandable!
@Aedan: of course I'm happy for you that your relationship is fine, but obviously that's within one species.
(I wrote a longer response here, but I deleted it because I decided that it's a bad idea to get into a detailed discussion of these issues.)
Suffice it to say that, in spite of the game (rather unfortunately) using the term "races", the various citizens of Faerun are definitely separate species: the others are explicitly not human. The concept of "romance" between different species is a whole different ballgame from trivial ethnic (or other) distinctions within the same species. In general, I reckon it just wouldn't happen, and the more radically-different the species, the less credible it is that they could ever share a "romance".
The definition of "species" does not fit here. Orcs and humans can interbreed, and half-orcs to my knowledge can also breed. Also, the terms race and species are often interchangeable in sci-fi and fantasy, especially in in-universe dialogue. Mass Effect will often refer to the turians, asari, and salarians as the "Council races," for example.
Besides, considering the wide array of things, people, age groups, and body parts real life humans are capable of fetishizing, the idea that a half-orc and a gnome could not possibly be attracted to one another is patently ridiculous. Don't embarrass yourself by attempting to impose your own preferences on a genre of media and literature that has already proven you wrong a hundred times over.
I have no problem to accept that gods can change into whatever animal, but first, they must have the will to do that. Maybe gods have a different way to look at things, but no chinchilla has ever made me wish I could be a chinchilla too just to bang it. Gods are weird.
@Aedan: of course I'm happy for you that your relationship is fine, but obviously that's within one species.
(I wrote a longer response here, but I deleted it because I decided that it's a bad idea to get into a detailed discussion of these issues.)
Suffice it to say that, in spite of the game (rather unfortunately) using the term "races", the various citizens of Faerun are definitely separate species: the others are explicitly not human. The concept of "romance" between different species is a whole different ballgame from trivial ethnic (or other) distinctions within the same species. In general, I reckon it just wouldn't happen, and the more radically-different the species, the less credible it is that they could ever share a "romance".
The definition of "species" does not fit here. Orcs and humans can interbreed, and half-orcs to my knowledge can also breed.
Different species can interbreed, at least in some cases.
Different species can interbreed, at least in some cases.
But their offspring will not be fertile, unlike half-orcs and half-elves. A species by definition is a group of organisms that can produce fertile offspring.
Comments
/end - rant
End of line.
Shorties should be able to romance other shorties perhaps... I've never heard of such a thing as a half-dwarf or a three-quarterling (or even a gnarf or gnomeling). Sure, they could have some sort of platonic romance, but that's just an elaborate word for a very close friendship...
Wait, what does this have to do with the next patch? And do I even want to know?
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Maybe this patch?
While I think that the species should not play a role in the romance stuff, I do agree with @Gallowglass that it is a cheap solution to give Dorn no restrictions at all and call it a day. So many people argue "different people, different tastes" when it comes to wether species 1 should be able to romance species 2, but Dorn has absolutely no taste whatsoever and it doesn't suit him. He is already very picky about his friends, why would he have no requirements at all for a lover? Plus, I know I'll find it weird if he hits on every charname I can possibly make in BG2 - that will get old really fast since I mostly play evil and won't have that many options for a full party.
I'd prefer it if romances (or friendships, which I personally find more interesting) would not be tied to race and gender, but stats. For example, Dorn respects strength, so make that his requirement. Maybe even get creative and make 2 stats required, i.e. NPC 1 will only be available to charnames with x intelligence and x charisma, NPC 2 only if x strength and x wisdom, NPC 3 something else... That would solve all the "why can't X romance a charname of race Y" issues.
I think Dorn's valuing strength can be construed more broadly, though. It'd be more likely for him to have a requirement that Charname must have 'above X' in their primary stat, showing that they're highly competent at what they do.
The perferences would add to the personalities - some NPCs would be more "superficial" than others (pay attention to looks/race above everything else), others more "open-minded". It would make the entire mechanic more interesting.
But then again, all my arguments could be superfluous since:
I mean, yeah, they're kinda cute and adorable, but really?
Zeus was regarded as an expert in this field.
Besides, considering the wide array of things, people, age groups, and body parts real life humans are capable of fetishizing, the idea that a half-orc and a gnome could not possibly be attracted to one another is patently ridiculous. Don't embarrass yourself by attempting to impose your own preferences on a genre of media and literature that has already proven you wrong a hundred times over.
Nope, we still haven't added the updated multiplayer matchmaking system that we advertised was in the game when you bought it.