Her quest is clearly to get control over her powers to not harm people in the future. Self-sacrifice doesn't automatically make a good person. Her intro fight is against a clearly evil group. Sure, neutral Garrick also works for evil Silke, but he is unaware of her intentions and neither starts nor joins a fight against her. Neera is the whole reason you get dragged into a fight against evil.
The Fishermen and the Priestess and the Merchants vs Druids are neutral quests; somehow, both sides have a point and in both cases, you can make that choice. (And the Fishermen quest even offers a path where you stay completely neutral and don't kill either side.) In Neera's encounter, you can't - there is no way to help the wizards capture her. Having no "evil" option doesn't equal "neutral".
I'm also not so sure if empathy equals good. I'm not seeing a whole lot of it in Kivan, for example. On the other hand, Eldoth does - in some way - empathize with Skie. He is not just claiming he wants to "free" her to disguise his intent to kidnap her. It's the truth that she wants to run away, and regardless how Eldoth talks to her, he handles her desire to become an adventurer in a "good" way. I'd generally argue that bards of any alignment need empathy to capture their audience. Someone who doesn't relate to people has a hard time to figure out what they want to hear and will cheer/pay for.
If only she were chaotic-good she'd be the perfect fit; fortunately, chaotic-neutral really causes no problems so I'm happy to have her around.
She is, same as Jaheira. Neera is neutral to give each new NPC a different alignment, and the two others need good or evil for their class/kit. That's how I see it; there is nothing neutral about her.
I would agree with saying she's good natured, which makes her fun company, but she's clearly neutral in alignment. Her back story includes plenty of unpleasantness from her past; and although she seems to feel only small amounts of guilt over it, and not enough where she's ready to take action to make things right. But she does seem happy to have good aligned traveling companions who will protect her and do right in the world. I would love if there was a chance to change her alignment in BGII. But for the first game, she's fine the way she is.
I love Baeloth Barrityll personality and voice he is funny haha anyway i do like most of the new npc...
I only wish that Dorn was an Orc and not half-orc... I always had it hard to accept that humans can mate with everything and everyone and get offsprings with a genetically diffrient other race than themselves.. Half-orc, half-celetial, half-fiendish, half-elf, half- elemental, half-dwarf, half-giant, half-dragon and so on urrrggg.... the terror the day i see Half-halfing and half-gnome :S
I just so glad most of the halfs have changed names and are there own races in new editions of dnd
Depends. It certainly limits your freedom as DM when you can't decide to make a creature into a half-dragon, or a half-fiend because those are actual races instead of templates that can be applied to almost everything.
I have to say Neera just because bg1 really lacks a good mage in my opinion. Her romance could use some work to it, but I wasn't put away by it. But her personality always brings a smile to my face.
Rasaad, I really know nothing about as I created a monk via multiplayer on my first play through and know how squishy they are at low level I just can't see myself grabbing him anytime soon.
Dorn, sorry buddy pal, but I'm racist against anything Orc. And as an Undead Hunter I'm required to kill any blackgaurds on sight! But my Barby loved your two handed sword.
Baeloth, he comes in a close second. I love what he says when you choose "Die, Drow" and when he dies. I didn't like how his stuff is consider stolen. He would get first place if he was a mage and not a sor.
i think i was always going to like the wild mage most no matter what they ended up being like fortunately neeras alot of fun and a great character too imo
Baeloth. But he's not as universal to parties of different alignments as Neera. You can pretty much use Neera in any party, but you can only use Baeloth in an evil party.
I love Baeloth Barrityll personality and voice he is funny haha anyway i do like most of the new npc...
I only wish that Dorn was an Orc and not half-orc... I always had it hard to accept that humans can mate with everything and everyone and get offsprings with a genetically diffrient other race than themselves.. Half-orc, half-celetial, half-fiendish, half-elf, half- elemental, half-dwarf, half-giant, half-dragon and so on urrrggg.... the terror the day i see Half-halfing and half-gnome :S
I just so glad most of the halfs have changed names and are there own races in new editions of dnd
Half-fiends were actually alu-fiends (female; product of a man and a succubus) and cambions (male; product of a woman and a demon). I think tieflings are "further down the road". To be fair, dragons and outsiders will reproduce with just about anything that moves. :x Look at dracolisks.
I love Baeloth Barrityll personality and voice he is funny haha anyway i do like most of the new npc...
I only wish that Dorn was an Orc and not half-orc... I always had it hard to accept that humans can mate with everything and everyone and get offsprings with a genetically diffrient other race than themselves.. Half-orc, half-celetial, half-fiendish, half-elf, half- elemental, half-dwarf, half-giant, half-dragon and so on urrrggg.... the terror the day i see Half-halfing and half-gnome :S
I just so glad most of the halfs have changed names and are there own races in new editions of dnd
Half-fiends were actually alu-fiends (female; product of a man and a succubus) and cambions (male; product of a woman and a demon). I think tieflings are "further down the road". To be fair, dragons and outsiders will reproduce with just about anything that moves. :x Look at dracolisks.
I had a dragon who once raised an army of cross breed half-red dragon children. When the half-dragon hippos appeared my players knew they were doomed.
I really like Rasaad characterization and background, I can't wait to see how his story will evolve in bg2. And also, the fact that he is a monk is a great challenge in bgee, monks are weak at lower levels and I never tried a monk pc before so I had to learn how to use this class effectively.
Dorn is the npc I like less I think. I agree that he is really strong and useful for the party, but I don't like his characterization, he tries to be misterious, he uses every occasion to say he is dangerous and that he wants revenge and power and blood and death and blah blah blah, it bores me:(
Funnily enough, I like them all about the same. Their personalities and overall concept are all thoroughly unique. Each one brings something new, something different. They're all well voice acted and written. There isn't one that stands out as a clear favorite to me.
I haven't been on the forum in a while, so was surprised to see that Neera is the most popular.
I've played through BGEE a few times now, and found that Dorn is the only new NPC whose personality I genuinely enjoy. The others have useful items, which I'm more than happy to conscript for the greater purposes of my party. Baeloth's and Neera's personalities are too over-the-top to me. Baeloth seems like a safe, comedy relief evil NPC--like a sinister Jar Jar Binks or Minsc replacement for an evil party. Apparently, I laugh to a different humor.
I found Neera irritating from the start--so cutesy and flippant, with an obnoxious sense of entitlement. Rasaad's character is well-written, but the voice acting is just too contrived and pretentious. I cannot listen to his voice without thinking how poor of a Middle-Eastern accent it is.
I think a lot of people want to see Neera as Chaotic Good so they can relate with her more. Her priority is self-preservation over altruism. While she may be a good person in general, her wild streak leads her to do some bad things. She more apt to run away from a situation in which she accidentally hurt people rather than stay and try to make amends. Overall, I thought the new NPCs' alignments matched their biographies and behaviors perfectly.
Dorn, hands down. His story is the most interesting and well-implemented into original BG. He is actually useful and as someone else mentioned, talking to him plays a tune in accordance to my real character... no childish talks like with Neera.
Neera tends to be a bit annoying and too bipolar. I find her story the worst of the trio. Rasaad is an interesting character and his story is also quite well-written. But he is very weak and did cost me a fortune in resurrection fees.. Baeloth is amusing, but too over powered.
Dorn joined Viconia as the "NPC I take for 95% of runs". With these two, I EMBRACE THE EVIL!
Baeloth is a delight. I can just imagine him observing all these surface creatures, or surfacers, and, like, gaguing whether or not they'd be any good in The Black Pits. I bet he'll be all sorts of fun in BG: II EE! Still haven't tried Rasaad.
Dorn and Baeloth are both overkill in my opinion. Neera annoys me too much and has ended a few of my 75 stat no reload challenges by exterminating my party with a random fireball. It's hard to forgive her, she isn't as innocent as she tries to seem.
Rasaad is a working mans EE NPC. You gotta invest in him and watch him grow from quite a feeble force to a modest martial artist. His quest line is pretty cool and rewarding, and he is classy and has integrity. The light of selune will shine bright if he is going to be in BG2:EE
I can't stand Neera. I shoot her at sight. But the one thing you can't blame her for is ruining your no reload runs. She comes with a risk and you know that before recruiting her. If you don't want that risk, take a different mage.
I just realised that I hadn't posted in this thread yet.
I really like Dorn. I mean, the guy has 19 Strength and Blackguard utility, but primarily I find him a really interesting character. The things I actually find most interesting about him is his seeming obsession with camaraderie, possibly even friendship, which is very unusual in evil characters in general (or at least ones in videogames). There is a distinct aspect of his quest for revenge that it's happening partly because he actually didn't expect to be betrayed, that he actually *did* think Simmeon & Co were his friends and that they were all going to travel around merrily murdering and pillaging like evil friends do. He wasn't just betrayed in the literal sense of being made the scapegoat, he was clearly betrayed emotionally as well. I find that kind of character trait exceedingly rare in portrayals of evil characters in games, which is why I am interested in seeing how it plays out in BG2EE. He's shaping up to be a pretty epic right-hand man to an evil Charname in his/her quest for their divine birthright.
Rasaad is also an interesting character. I've done his quest but not his romance, and I liked his dialogues and his interactions with Viconia. His area is also really cool. But there isn't really anything that hooks me with him like with Dorn. I'm very interested in seeing how his quest will play out, and am curious as to whether you'll be able to side with Alhorgoth or possibly corrupt Rasaad to the dark side of the moon.
Neera I just really dislike. I think she's an obnoxious brat, and her personality just seems to be 'self-obssessed bratty teenager' (which, I admit, if they were going for, then they pulled it off really well). For me she feels like she was trying to be like Tali in ME2-3 or Merryl from DA2 in filling the whole vaguely-cutesy role, but managed to be way worse than both as I feel they both have some kind of depth to their personalities.
@Eudaemonium - yeah, I agree about Dorn. He seems to be Evil by necessity, in that he made a deal with the devil and now he's bound by it, rather than being a jerk who "naturally" accumulated evil points over the years.
Regarding Neera, yeah, I see the bratty teenager angle. None the less, her romance was the least unnatural I've seen in BG so far. Maybe I date too many immature self-obsessed mental teenagers.
Comments
The Fishermen and the Priestess and the Merchants vs Druids are neutral quests; somehow, both sides have a point and in both cases, you can make that choice. (And the Fishermen quest even offers a path where you stay completely neutral and don't kill either side.) In Neera's encounter, you can't - there is no way to help the wizards capture her. Having no "evil" option doesn't equal "neutral".
I'm also not so sure if empathy equals good. I'm not seeing a whole lot of it in Kivan, for example. On the other hand, Eldoth does - in some way - empathize with Skie. He is not just claiming he wants to "free" her to disguise his intent to kidnap her. It's the truth that she wants to run away, and regardless how Eldoth talks to her, he handles her desire to become an adventurer in a "good" way. I'd generally argue that bards of any alignment need empathy to capture their audience. Someone who doesn't relate to people has a hard time to figure out what they want to hear and will cheer/pay for.
Anyway... ALIGNMENT DISCUSSION! Popcorn, anyone?
I would love if there was a chance to change her alignment in BGII. But for the first game, she's fine the way she is.
anyway i do like most of the new npc...
I only wish that Dorn was an Orc and not half-orc...
I always had it hard to accept that humans can mate with everything and everyone and get offsprings with a genetically diffrient other race than themselves..
Half-orc, half-celetial, half-fiendish, half-elf, half- elemental, half-dwarf, half-giant, half-dragon and so on urrrggg.... the terror the day i see Half-halfing and half-gnome :S
I just so glad most of the halfs have changed names and are there own races in new editions of dnd
Half-fiendish= tiefling
Half-Celestail = Aasimar (deva 4th edition)
Half- elemental= Genasi
Half-orc= still half orc
Half-elf= still half elf
half-dwarf= Muls
Half-Giant= Goliath
Half-Dragon= Dragonborn
Rasaad, I really know nothing about as I created a monk via multiplayer on my first play through and know how squishy they are at low level I just can't see myself grabbing him anytime soon.
Dorn, sorry buddy pal, but I'm racist against anything Orc. And as an Undead Hunter I'm required to kill any blackgaurds on sight! But my Barby loved your two handed sword.
Baeloth, he comes in a close second. I love what he says when you choose "Die, Drow" and when he dies. I didn't like how his stuff is consider stolen. He would get first place if he was a mage and not a sor.
To be fair, dragons and outsiders will reproduce with just about anything that moves. :x Look at dracolisks.
I like Neera cause she's a wild mage but she seems as crazy as her magic on a personality basis...
Dorn is awesome too, although sometimes I want to smack some sense into him. But damn, that voice
I really wanted to like Neera, she had a lot of BFF potential, but by the end of her quest she just came off as an obnoxious brat
and of course, Baeloth is pure awesome
Dorn is the npc I like less I think. I agree that he is really strong and useful for the party, but I don't like his characterization, he tries to be misterious, he uses every occasion to say he is dangerous and that he wants revenge and power and blood and death and blah blah blah, it bores me:(
I've played through BGEE a few times now, and found that Dorn is the only new NPC whose personality I genuinely enjoy. The others have useful items, which I'm more than happy to conscript for the greater purposes of my party. Baeloth's and Neera's personalities are too over-the-top to me. Baeloth seems like a safe, comedy relief evil NPC--like a sinister Jar Jar Binks or Minsc replacement for an evil party. Apparently, I laugh to a different humor.
I found Neera irritating from the start--so cutesy and flippant, with an obnoxious sense of entitlement. Rasaad's character is well-written, but the voice acting is just too contrived and pretentious. I cannot listen to his voice without thinking how poor of a Middle-Eastern accent it is.
I think a lot of people want to see Neera as Chaotic Good so they can relate with her more. Her priority is self-preservation over altruism. While she may be a good person in general, her wild streak leads her to do some bad things. She more apt to run away from a situation in which she accidentally hurt people rather than stay and try to make amends. Overall, I thought the new NPCs' alignments matched their biographies and behaviors perfectly.
Neera tends to be a bit annoying and too bipolar. I find her story the worst of the trio. Rasaad is an interesting character and his story is also quite well-written. But he is very weak and did cost me a fortune in resurrection fees..
Baeloth is amusing, but too over powered.
Dorn joined Viconia as the "NPC I take for 95% of runs". With these two, I EMBRACE THE EVIL!
Still haven't tried Rasaad.
Rasaad is a working mans EE NPC. You gotta invest in him and watch him grow from quite a feeble force to a modest martial artist. His quest line is pretty cool and rewarding, and he is classy and has integrity. The light of selune will shine bright if he is going to be in BG2:EE
I really like Dorn. I mean, the guy has 19 Strength and Blackguard utility, but primarily I find him a really interesting character. The things I actually find most interesting about him is his seeming obsession with camaraderie, possibly even friendship, which is very unusual in evil characters in general (or at least ones in videogames). There is a distinct aspect of his quest for revenge that it's happening partly because he actually didn't expect to be betrayed, that he actually *did* think Simmeon & Co were his friends and that they were all going to travel around merrily murdering and pillaging like evil friends do. He wasn't just betrayed in the literal sense of being made the scapegoat, he was clearly betrayed emotionally as well. I find that kind of character trait exceedingly rare in portrayals of evil characters in games, which is why I am interested in seeing how it plays out in BG2EE. He's shaping up to be a pretty epic right-hand man to an evil Charname in his/her quest for their divine birthright.
Rasaad is also an interesting character. I've done his quest but not his romance, and I liked his dialogues and his interactions with Viconia. His area is also really cool. But there isn't really anything that hooks me with him like with Dorn. I'm very interested in seeing how his quest will play out, and am curious as to whether you'll be able to side with Alhorgoth or possibly corrupt Rasaad to the dark side of the moon.
Neera I just really dislike. I think she's an obnoxious brat, and her personality just seems to be 'self-obssessed bratty teenager' (which, I admit, if they were going for, then they pulled it off really well). For me she feels like she was trying to be like Tali in ME2-3 or Merryl from DA2 in filling the whole vaguely-cutesy role, but managed to be way worse than both as I feel they both have some kind of depth to their personalities.
Regarding Neera, yeah, I see the bratty teenager angle. None the less, her romance was the least unnatural I've seen in BG so far. Maybe I date too many immature self-obsessed mental teenagers.