Aye. Imoen, my kindred spirit...I maybe wouldn't be so invested (being a bit of a jerk in real life too), but she is so darn useful in BG. She fills the spot of a Thief - and if you dual her to a mage at level 5 or 6, you still get 100% locksmith and around 75% finding traps which is all you need for 95% of BG 1. That setup fills a mage and an utility thief spot in your group the rest of the group can focus on killing stuff. Her stats are great for a ranged thief/mage and her personality is quite fine too.
I like to play in smaller groups, around 4 people, and having Imoen fills half the requirements and gives you much more freedom in choosing other NPCs. She tends to be my Token Good Teammate in my usual neutral-evil parties.
...and besides, she is your only link to your past, she was your friend and the chats you have with her do not allow you to let her run to protect her, just "be a friend" or "be a jerk". On some runs, where I have to lay her off, I let her standing in a cozy Inn and tell her that I will be back...
Imoen is like your (devoted) sister. There is so much emotional investment in her, and the overall atmosphere of the storyline has fewer threads without her. What's more, you don't just carry this kid with you for sentimental reasons. Her stats are some of the best of the game and she can be used so many ways. Must admit once or twice I replaced her with Coran or Safana, but thoughts of my sister always remained in the background, and I always made sure she was somewhere safe with the idea that we would come together some day again.
In my evil runs (selfish evil, not rampaging psychopath evil), I take her as far as the Friendly Arm, then dump her with Khalid and Jaheira. Imoen's out of my hair, and J/K end up with somebody to babysit -- everyone wins, and I don't have to feel guilty about it, since she has competent guardians to tend to her.
An added bonus of this approach is that it makes the companions in Irenicus' dungeon make a bit more sense: Imoen, for soul-stealing reasons, would have been abducted by Irenicus independently of CHARNAME anyway, and so Jaheira's there not as my former traveling companion, but as Imoen's.
BG2 - i feel weird if i leave her in Spellhold BG1 - she's the best wizard/thief in the game if i'm Good, if i'm Evil, she stands at the front of the party w/ no weapons & no armour as we wander around...at least until she eats one too many arrows...i call her "Meatshield"
The rescue moment in Spellhold is one of the few moments I've ever had in a game where I feel bad for making a decision I want to make. In BG2 if I'm not planning to grab her (i.e. I didn't keep Yoshimo with me), it hits me when I leave her there.
However, in BG1 she's just another replaceable party member and I couldn't care less.
sooo who is this Imoem charachter ppl are talking in here?? is she a secret follower hehe... anyway never liked or cared for Imoem... never had her in my party longer than 1 second (the time it takes to kick her out when she forcefully joins my party)...
I have a firm belief that Immy is one of the best characters in the game. The game just isn't the same with out her. It's too bad she's not able to be romance because Momma needs her Imoen bad.
I don't understand... How can people be immersed enough to want a romance with a NPC and at the same time ignore immersion enough to not care she's charname's sister? It's a total contradiction to me. Yeah, I get it, it's just a game. But it's also still eww.
Bhaal is running around still as a deity sowing his seed, but presumably he'd have to assume a flesh and blood avatar to mate. Maybe the DNA for that physical form gets created differently every time? (If it was a PnP game that would be up to the DM, I guess.) We don't have any way of knowing whether there's any sort of physical resemblance among all the human offspring Bhaal sired. (That too would be up to the DM in a tabletop game.)
But that said, the bond with Imoen feels very sibling-like to me anyway, even if the DNA Bhaal used to create her and CHARNAME was entirely different.
On the other hand, if the DNA is not the same, I guess there's no reason to impose the sibling-like relationship onto her though. I read posts all the time of people who play evil and feel no affinity or bond with Imoen whatsoever, for example.
Not to mention we aren't talking "long lost, unknown relative" type thing like in Star Wars (which also makes me wince a bit in retrospect). You grew up with her, she was your closest friend. Even before BG2 she was practically CHARNAME's sister. Practically eery interaction they have speaks to that. I agree, these requests for a romance option are just epic eww.
I have no particularly strong bond with my real life siblings either. They are still my siblings and it would still be eww to "romance" them (or if they had a romance with each other). Even if I hadn't seen them since birth. Even if they were half siblings I hadn't seen since birth. Even if they were cute, redheaded half siblings I hadn't seen since birth. Imoen grew up with charname; there aren't any other people their age mentioned, so they were likely raised like siblings. Rings all my eww bells.
Definitely if she is your blood relation, lol! I'm just speculating about in the case of a god assuming an avatar, whether the DNA would even be the same. Bhaal became corporeal and took the form all manner of creature in order to 'sow his mortal progeny'. Not sure about the mechanics of that, but he magically created bodies out of thin air, I would assume.
It does raise a related issue of Imoen's biography imposing itself:
When asked about her past, Imoen slaps your shoulder playfully. She says that you of all people should know, seeing as how you grew up together. Indeed, some of your fondest memories are of meeting this sprightly young lass. She apparently came to Candlekeep much as you did, though 10 years later in life, and she spent much more time with the gruff Winthrop than Gorion. "Puffguts" she would call him, much to the old innkeep's dismay.
She seems the eternal child, and is quite content to play the part of little sister, though you are both of comparative ages. You can tell by her hearty smile that she will always be willing to travel with you, no matter what path you take.
For many an evil character that hate her, would meeting her really be a fond memory?
She's about 18 (?) and you are 20. She came to Candlekeep when you were 10 years old. She was more raised by Winthrop than Gorion. There are certain types of characters that would not see her a sister at all, I would think.
Anyway, Immy's bio is slanted towards a Good aligned character (like so much of the rest of the game). I usually play CG, LN, LG, or NG types of characters that do have a fraternal bond with Imoen. But if I played evil I think I'd chafe a bit at her bio.
I like to imagine that this is how Imoen develops with experience; a no-nonsense adventurer and a beauty, but still with her heart in the right place. Nobody better mess with this gal anymore.
I don't understand... How can people be immersed enough to want a romance with a NPC and at the same time ignore immersion enough to not care she's charname's sister? It's a total contradiction to me. Yeah, I get it, it's just a game. But it's also still eww.
I believe in the Imoen mod out there they bring that up. Though I haven't gotten that far yet, but if they did do a Imoen romance mod that eww factor would have to be brought up. Also they would have to fully explain how the whole Bhaal created his children.
@Alexisisinneed. In the opera "Die Walkurie", Siegmund meets his half sister Sieglinde and they are both children of the god Wotan (pretty much the Germanic equivalent of Zeus). They immediately feel and profess undying love. The god Wotan seems ok with it. Interesting similar situation. Just saying.
But wait, there's more. Wotan's wife, the goddess Fricka, gets her panties in a bunch because Sieglinde is already married and Fricka feels she is the protector of the institution of marriage, she doesn't seem upset that they are part siblings. She forces Wotan not to protect his son, so Siegmund dies in battle with Sieglinde's husband.
And most interesting..... Wotan punishes his own daughter, the Walkurie Brunhilde for having disobeyed his orders not to protect Siegmund. He places her in a continual sleep spell, surrounding her with magical fires, and she must marry the first hero to overcome the fires and awaken her. It turns out, that Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde arrives years later to awaken Brunhilde. So Siegfried and Brunhilde , nephew and aunt, fall deeply in love with each other. Oh, those gods. There must be something different in their DNA. But the music was great.
At least, that was my recollection of the whole thing.
I was just about to dump Imoen off at the Friendly Arm Inn today, because I'm running a completely evil party this time through, but I can't leave her after what she did. She turned more evil than anyone else I'd used so far, in any playthrough.
We had just gotten back from killing an ogre with a belt fetish, and I had proceeded to accidentally make Xzar a little more effeminate, because I always forget about that damn belt. But it was pretty funny. Anyway, the plan was to get the experience, and then rob the woman to get the belt back. That's how I'd been operating so far, and it was going well. I maintained a decent reputation while being an evil bastard and getting what I want. What I didn't count on was this woman paying a little more attention.
Imoen went for the pickpocket, but I guess she wasn't as smooth this time, because the woman got a little angry. Logically, she responded to petty theft by people that just helped her with lethal force. I didn't feel like committing murder in front of a crowd like that. So we tear ass toward the stairs to make our escape, but not before the woman got off a quick spell. When we got downstairs, I realized she had cast Rigid Thinking on Imoen.
While we're downstairs and Imoen has the effect on her, I have no control over her, so I just decided to wait out the effect of the spell. After waiting around for a couple minutes, it finally wore off. Imoen had wandered over toward a noble just before the spell wore off, who was just sitting at a table, minding his own business. Once the spell wore off, I went to click and drag to select my party. Just before my cursor reaches her, I see Imoen raise her bow, and suddenly fire an arrow off into the noble's head, before she turned and muttered "Mutton-mongering riff raff." The terrifying part is that we incurred no penalty to reputation, and not a single person in that inn noticed the blatant murder that occurred, after the spell had worn off.
Imoen is the most evil character in the game. And now I love her.
Comments
She fills the spot of a Thief - and if you dual her to a mage at level 5 or 6, you still get 100% locksmith and around 75% finding traps which is all you need for 95% of BG 1.
That setup fills a mage and an utility thief spot in your group the rest of the group can focus on killing stuff. Her stats are great for a ranged thief/mage and her personality is quite fine too.
I like to play in smaller groups, around 4 people, and having Imoen fills half the requirements and gives you much more freedom in choosing other NPCs. She tends to be my Token Good Teammate in my usual neutral-evil parties.
...and besides, she is your only link to your past, she was your friend and the chats you have with her do not allow you to let her run to protect her, just "be a friend" or "be a jerk".
On some runs, where I have to lay her off, I let her standing in a cozy Inn and tell her that I will be back...
It's like cheating if I don't take her...
On the other hand... I met Imoen before my wife...
Maybe, I'm cheating on Imoen... O_o
I meant for that sentence to come out that way.
But I also take Han along because Han Solo. That is an awesome build and an awesome portrait.
An added bonus of this approach is that it makes the companions in Irenicus' dungeon make a bit more sense: Imoen, for soul-stealing reasons, would have been abducted by Irenicus independently of CHARNAME anyway, and so Jaheira's there not as my former traveling companion, but as Imoen's.
BG1 - she's the best wizard/thief in the game if i'm Good, if i'm Evil, she stands at the front of the party w/ no weapons & no armour as we wander around...at least until she eats one too many arrows...i call her "Meatshield"
However, in BG1 she's just another replaceable party member and I couldn't care less.
anyway never liked or cared for Imoem... never had her in my party longer than 1 second (the time it takes to kick her out when she forcefully joins my party)...
"Hey Immy,pop in there a minute."
"I got a blade with your name on it"
"Snigger,Snigger"
But that said, the bond with Imoen feels very sibling-like to me anyway, even if the DNA Bhaal used to create her and CHARNAME was entirely different.
On the other hand, if the DNA is not the same, I guess there's no reason to impose the sibling-like relationship onto her though. I read posts all the time of people who play evil and feel no affinity or bond with Imoen whatsoever, for example.
It does raise a related issue of Imoen's biography imposing itself: For many an evil character that hate her, would meeting her really be a fond memory?
She's about 18 (?) and you are 20. She came to Candlekeep when you were 10 years old. She was more raised by Winthrop than Gorion. There are certain types of characters that would not see her a sister at all, I would think.
Anyway, Immy's bio is slanted towards a Good aligned character (like so much of the rest of the game). I usually play CG, LN, LG, or NG types of characters that do have a fraternal bond with Imoen. But if I played evil I think I'd chafe a bit at her bio.
But wait, there's more. Wotan's wife, the goddess Fricka, gets her panties in a bunch because Sieglinde is already married and Fricka feels she is the protector of the institution of marriage, she doesn't seem upset that they are part siblings. She forces Wotan not to protect his son, so Siegmund dies in battle with Sieglinde's husband.
And most interesting..... Wotan punishes his own daughter, the Walkurie Brunhilde for having disobeyed his orders not to protect Siegmund. He places her in a continual sleep spell, surrounding her with magical fires, and she must marry the first hero to overcome the fires and awaken her. It turns out, that Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde arrives years later to awaken Brunhilde. So Siegfried and Brunhilde , nephew and aunt, fall deeply in love with each other. Oh, those gods. There must be something different in their DNA. But the music was great.
At least, that was my recollection of the whole thing.
We had just gotten back from killing an ogre with a belt fetish, and I had proceeded to accidentally make Xzar a little more effeminate, because I always forget about that damn belt. But it was pretty funny. Anyway, the plan was to get the experience, and then rob the woman to get the belt back. That's how I'd been operating so far, and it was going well. I maintained a decent reputation while being an evil bastard and getting what I want. What I didn't count on was this woman paying a little more attention.
Imoen went for the pickpocket, but I guess she wasn't as smooth this time, because the woman got a little angry. Logically, she responded to petty theft by people that just helped her with lethal force. I didn't feel like committing murder in front of a crowd like that. So we tear ass toward the stairs to make our escape, but not before the woman got off a quick spell. When we got downstairs, I realized she had cast Rigid Thinking on Imoen.
While we're downstairs and Imoen has the effect on her, I have no control over her, so I just decided to wait out the effect of the spell. After waiting around for a couple minutes, it finally wore off. Imoen had wandered over toward a noble just before the spell wore off, who was just sitting at a table, minding his own business. Once the spell wore off, I went to click and drag to select my party. Just before my cursor reaches her, I see Imoen raise her bow, and suddenly fire an arrow off into the noble's head, before she turned and muttered "Mutton-mongering riff raff." The terrifying part is that we incurred no penalty to reputation, and not a single person in that inn noticed the blatant murder that occurred, after the spell had worn off.
Imoen is the most evil character in the game. And now I love her.